


Mesh

by scapegoat



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien Agreste Is Not Chat Noir, Akuma Attack, Akuma Possession, Akuma Possession Side Effects (Miraculous Ladybug), Alternate Universe - Different Powers, Auras, Awesome Master Fu (Miraculous Ladybug), Bilingual Character(s), Bisexual Kagami Tsurugi, Bisexual Lila Rossi, Bisexual Luka Couffaine, Bisexual Lê Chiến Kim, Bisexual Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Bisexual Mylène Haprèle, Bisexual Nathaniel Kurtzberg, Bisexual Nino Lahiffe, Bisexual Rose Lavillant, Blogging, Cat Mylène Haprèle, Chinese Mythology & Folklore, Comics, Designer Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Dragon Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Emilie Agreste Lives, Emotional Manipulation, Fencer Kagami Tsurugi, Gabriel Agreste Is Not Hawk Moth, Gay Marc Anciel, Genderfluid Kwamis, Hijinks & Shenanigans, Kwami & Miraculous Lore, Kwami Magic, Kwami Shenanigans, Kwami Swap, LGBTQ Themes, Language of Flowers, Lesbian Alya Cesaire, Lesbian Chloé Bourgeois, Lesbian Juleka Couffaine, Lucky Charm And Miraculous Ladybugs Cure | Ladybug Miraculous Superpowers Don't Fix Everything, Magic, Manga & Anime, Marinette Dupain-Cheng Is Not Ladybug, Marinette Dupain-Cheng Speaks Chinese, Master Fu Ships It (Miraculous Ladybug), Mental Health Issues, Miraculous Side Effects, Multilingual Character(s), No Adrien Agreste Redemption, Nonbinary Marc Anciel, Pillow & Blanket Forts, Platonic Cuddling, Reincarnation, Rooster Alya Césaire, Self-Acceptance, Self-Discovery, Self-Esteem Issues, Tall Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Team Bonding, Team as Family, Teenage Rebellion, The Guardian Order (Miraculous Ladybug), Turtle Kagami Tsurugi, Underage Drinking, Video & Computer Games, Vigilantism, Women Being Awesome, teenagers being teenagers, unrequited crushes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-29
Updated: 2020-10-03
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:20:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 92,931
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23907577
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scapegoat/pseuds/scapegoat
Summary: Akumas and amoks have been plaguing the city of Paris for months without remorse, yet The Guardian Order decides to leave the city to its own devices.Fù Wáng defects from the Order and heads to Paris to deal with the situation, distributing the kwamis’ Miraculouses in his care to their Chosen wielders to give the city a fighting chance against the madness.Not only does his new team have to deal with the akumas and amoks but there’s another threat looming, and if that weren’t bad enough The Guardian Order want their Miraculouses back.
Relationships: Alya Césaire & Marinette Dupain-Cheng & Mylène Haprèle & Kagami Tsurugi, Alya Césaire & Orikko, Kagami Tsurugi & Wayzz, Marinette Dupain-Cheng & Longg, Mylène Haprèle & Plagg
Comments: 5
Kudos: 40





	1. looking for friends in all the wrong places

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Miraculous Ladybug nor do I make money from writing~
> 
> A/N: the “core four” are the kwamis of the four Chinese deities/symbols: the tiger, phoenix, turtle, and dragon; however, there is no tiger Miraculous here, instead Plagg (simply the cat kwami rather than black cat) serves as the feline symbol. Tigers are just big cats anyway, right? And it’s not like the bird Miraculous is a phoenix.
> 
> There’s also no dog because there’s a fox and they’re both canidaes. (But the fox is with the secondary holders.)
> 
> Because the ladybug Miraculous is red and black, I’m making the dragon red and gold with bits of black.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First days are supposed to be eventful, right?

Le Grand Paris, otherwise known as Hotel Bourgeois, is the second-largest hotel in Paris. It is owned by former mayor André Bourgeois, who just so happened to be the husband of the current mayor Audrey Bourgeois.  
  
(You’d think after twelve years with one Bourgeois as mayor no one would vote for _another_ and yet-)  
  
Like any other typical day at the hotel, the kitchen staff bustled to bring the Bourgeois trio: Mayor Audrey, former mayor and their boss André, and their daughter Chloé their breakfast before attending to the rest of the hotel. André thanks the staff as they scurry out the suite. With a content sigh, André picks up his glass of orange juice. “Nothing quite beats breakfast with my lovely family.” His wife and daughter merely stare at him for several seconds before returning their attention to their breakfasts. Trying to get some kind of conversation going, André clears his throat. “I-If I remember correctly, Angel, today is the first day back to school for the new year. Aren’t you excited?”  
  
Chloé huffs, “papa, it’s _school_. What do I have to be excited about?”  
  
“And it’s not like it’s a new school year or anything.” Audrey adds, eyeing her plate critically, “she’s already had four months with those... miscreants.” The blonde sniffs derisively, “ _public school_.” She shudders, “utterly ridiculous you’d subject our only child to it.”  
  
“Pumpkin, _I_ attended public school.”  
  
“You were the exception, André. Clara—”  
  
“Chloé.” André mutters.  
  
“—That’s what I said.” Audrey rolls her eyes, “ _anyway_ , Cara’s been in public school for, what, six years? And she—”  
  
“ _Eight_.” Chloé corrects.  
  
“What?”  
  
“Eight years, Audrey. Not six. I’m in my quatrième.”  
  
“Eight!?” Audrey repeats, “it’s worse than I thought! I need to book an emergency spa day.”  
  
“Pumpkin, can that wait until after today’s lunch with the police chief?”  
  
“Absolutely not! He _may_ attend if it's his prerogative but I will not be seen by others without a proper, _necessary_ mud soak. I can just feel my pores clogging. Clarissa, clear your schedule, you need this as much as I do.” Chloé happily claps her hands together. “ _Eight years_. I don’t think an hour will cut it—”  
  
“Audrey, be reasonable! Chloé has to be at school in fifteen minutes!”  
  
“I’m the _mayor_. What are they gonna say? ‘You can’t spend time with your daughter?’” The woman scoffs, “and really André, I thought you’d be thrilled Cleo and I are spending time together.”  
  
“Audrey has a point, Papa.”  
  
André massages his temples. Why does _every_ morning conversation end with him getting a migraine? Maybe he should stop trying to engage in conversation with them? _No_. He can’t allow negative thoughts, because negative thoughts will get him “akumatized.” And _really_ , who came up with such an utterly ridiculous term for it?  
  
“What about your friends, Angel? Isn’t it a good thing seeing them after two long weeks?”  
  
“Papa, if I truly desired seeing any of my friends I would’ve invited them over during break.”  
  
Audrey gives him a pointed look, “she’s got you there.”  
  
André throws his hands in the air, “ _fine_. Do your spa day, _but_ get her to school once you’re finished.”  
  
Audrey gives him a two-fingered salute. “You should come with us, Papa! A spa day’s gotta be better than running the hotel.”  
  
“Maybe so but—”  
  
“No _buts_ , next time you’re joining us.” Audrey rises from the table, barely touching her food. “Come along Chlorida, our appointments are booked and Phillip waits for no one.” Chloé quickly gets up, pecking her father on the forehead then follows after her mother.  
  
André sighs as the door swings shut. He could swear he saw a purple-blackish butterfly on the other side of the door. He takes a deep breath and looks out the window.  
  
A kaleidoscope of purple-blackish butterflies soar in the sky. Just like there’s no doubt there’s a plethora of blue feathers lurking in the trees and on top of buildings.  
  
This unusual butterfly phenomenon started several months back, in the summer.  
  
One afternoon in June, Nadja Chamack was interviewing some up and coming something or the other when a purple-blackish butterfly landed on Nadja’s microphone transforming her – through an ooze – into a... what are those things with a bird head and horse body called? Damn. The word is on the tip of his tongue. Anyway, half-bird half...whatever Nadja flew to the sky and coughed out purple-blackish butterflies.  
  
Everything the butterflies touched transformed into what Nadja transformed into.  
  
The police arrived on the scene and were unable to do a damn thing about it and half the force was transformed themselves.  
  
Then, in a matter of hours, it was over as sudden as it began and no one had any recollection of how they transformed in the first place.  
  
The following days followed suit. People getting “akumatized” left and right, attacking one another, then turning back to normal within hours.  
  
In the months that followed, however, a pattern began forming. Less and less people were getting akumatized at once meaning more and more people were getting attacked by akumatizations.  
  
While no one was certain how akumatizations began, once mid-September hit people started realizing negative emotions were getting them transformed. Especially when they were now remembering the process. Though with people remembering, they stayed transformed for days. Sometimes a full week.  
  
According to akumatization testimonies every one began the same way: The hypnotic voice telling them exactly what they want to hear without expecting or asking of anything in return.  
  
André was almost akumatized himself on several occasions; he’s seen the butterflies approaching but they’ve never made contact with anything on his person, as that’s how one gets akumatized, and he’s yet to hear the voice accompanied by them. He’s been considered one of the lucky ones. Though it hasn’t saved him from being on an akumatization’s shit list.  
  
With his wife and daughter’s temperaments, he’s truly surprised (beyond belief) neither of them have been akumatized either. Though, he suspects, they have caused their share of akumatizations; Audrey, in particular. Weekly construction on the hotel was a hassle, not to mention a fucking headache.  
  
The feathers that didn’t belong to any bird André’s ever seen in his bird watching catalogues began cropping up in November. Like the butterflies, they just showed up out of nowhere one day. Unlike the butterflies however, the feathers didn’t affect people... well physically. Whatever the feathers touched grew exponentially in size and became sentient often taking on the emotions of whoever held the transformed item.  
  
In December, the feathers started coming after the butterflies already affected someone.  
  
So panicking people not only had to watch their asses for akumatizations but they had to make sure they were keeping their belongings free of feathers.  
  
André doesn’t know how much longer the city can take almost daily attacks from fucking feathers and damn butterflies. The number of tourists arriving in the city decreased drastically in the past six months. With good reason too, André thought about leaving the city sometimes – often, to be honest – but Audrey would never budge. Audrey claimed Paris was in her top three favorite cities to live in, and she’d never allow the fear slash concern of getting akumatized (because she had to feel one of the two) dictate anything for her.  
  
André sighs and takes a deep breath, then gets up from the table to begin doing his daily routine of looking around their hotel room for feathers or butterflies. Maybe he should’ve went with them.  
  
🐉  
  
Two-and-a-half hours of pampering later, Audrey drops Chloé off herself, giving Principal Damocles some spiel about a family togetherness or some bull along those lines. Damocles probably didn’t believe a word of it but the need of the Bourgeois’ backing the school had him simply nodding along.  
  
Chloé gets to school just in time because her class was in Mme. Bustier’s room; their homeroom teacher, Mme. Mendeleiev, was one of two teachers in François Düpont who didn’t give a shit who Chloé’s parents were. All throughout her years at primary school, Chloé was able to get away with pretty much anything thanks to her parents but the second she hit the collège doors, Mendeleiev flat out stated she didn’t care if she got fired she wasn’t gonna buckle and the woman stayed true to her word. When they first met, Chloé tried to see if she was all talk but she quickly realized Mendeleiev wasn’t. (She also realized the woman was scary.)  
  
The other teacher who didn’t care about the Bourgeois’ reign (of terror) over the school is their fencing teacher, M. D’Argencourt, who despite openly resenting both of Chloé’s parents he never took his hatred out on the blonde.  
  
Her best friend Sabrina no doubt handled the homeroom class representative duties in Chloé’s absence; of course, Sabrina did them even when Chloé was present. Chloé ran for representative, unopposed (naturally), because it put her in charge of her classmates; she didn’t know the work it entailed! Sabrina took over because she legitimately _wanted_ the job (but knew better than to run against her) knowing full well everything that came with it! So Chloé let her and also let her be co-representative so she could get some credit, not to mention all the work Mendeleiev (purposely) tacked on.  
  
When Chloé enters the classroom, she feels the stares of her classmates – as expected – yet the whole Feng Shui of the room felt... off. Blue eyes quickly survey the classroom and Chloé gasps as she sees an unfamiliar body **in her seat** not even looking in her direction. With the uneven amount of students in the class, Chloé had a desk to herself in the back. _Evidently_ , that is no longer the case.  
  
Mme. Bustier clears her throat, greeting the blonde with a nervous chuckle but Chloé stomps up the steps to her desk not missing her best friend’s grimace. And Chloé will deal with _that_ later. Once she arrives at her destination, she loudly clears her throat.  
  
Bored blue-grey eyes tear away from the notebook to look up at her, “can I help you?” Clara Nightingale’s debut single _Stars In Your Eyes_ made Chloé realize she was gay at the tender age of 12. If the blonde weren’t so pissed, she’d be beguiled by the pretty blue-haired girl in front of her.  
  
Instead, Chloé’s left eye twitches, “you’re in my seat.”  
  
“Chloé.” Mme. Bustier rushes up the steps, “Chloé, there are no other seats in the class.”  
  
Chloé turns to the redhead, “then where am _I_ supposed to sit?”  
  
Kim, in the desk across from them, stands up. “You can have my seat, Chloé.”  
  
“I don’t want _your_ seat, I want _mine_.”  
  
“Kim, can you please get an extra seat from next door?” Mme. Bustier asks. The tall brunet salutes the teacher before exiting the classroom. “Chloé—”  
  
“Oh no. I’m not going _anywhere_. **My** name is on that seat.” The blue-haired girl opens her mouth but Chloé points at the desk plaque with her name written in cursive.  
  
“Huh. Interesting. However, your name’s on the _desk_ , not the _seat_.“ She just casually pushes Chloe’s _gold-plated_ plaque to the other edge of the table like it was a common paperweight! “So... as I’ve done nothing wrong, having just arrived in the school this morning and was placed here by the teacher, I’m not getting up.”  
  
“ _What_?! Like hell you’re not getting up!”  
  
“For fuck’s sake, Bourgeois, it’s just a chair!” The pink-haired girl in the desk in front of them yells.  
  
“ _Zip it_ , Kubdel. What’s the point of having assigned seats if we’re not sticking to them? It’s disrupting the entire hierarchy!” The class collectively groans.  
  
“Chloé, Kim is getting you a seat. You’re going to be sharing this desk—”  
  
“ _No_.” Taken aback, Mme. Bustier does a double-take. “I will not share _my. Desk_. Move her.”  
  
New Girl actually _laughs_ and Chloé’s nostrils flare. “You...” She struggles to speak in between laughs, “you’re... all this over a rickety plastic chair?”  
  
Chloé slams her hands down on the desk, “I can make your school year a living hell if you don’t move out of my seat.”  
  
New Girl blinks at her and turns to Bustier who looks down. “Wow. _Seriously_?” With a sigh, the blue-haired shrugs. “You know what? Screw it. You’re already making my school year hell and I’ve only been here an hour. Do. Your. Worst, Blondie.”  
  
The class collectively gasps loudly and theatrically. Chloé’s eyes widen comically, “how fucking dare you! You have no idea who you’re talking to!”  
  
“And I don’t care.”  
  
Sabrina skids to a halt on Chloé’s left, “she isn’t worth it, Chloé.” The orange-haired teen tugs on the blonde’s arm, “sit with me.”  
  
“Huh!?” Lila loudly pipes in, “then where am _I_ gonna sit?” The class groans again.  
  
Kim returns to the classroom with the chair, when he gets to the top row Chloé snatches the chair from him and plants it down on the new girl’s right. “You just made yourself an enemy.” The blue-haired rolls her eyes as Chloé sits down folding her arms over her chest.  
  
Mme. Bustier sighs heavily, “merci, Kim. Chloé—”  
  
“You’d better do something about this tomorrow.” The blonde hisses.  
  
The redhead clears her throat, “of course, Chloé.“ She heads down the stairs to the chalkboard.  
  
Chloé glares at Sabrina, “you and I are gonna have a chat when class is over.” Gulping, Sabrina nods – releasing Chloé’s arm – making her way back to her seat.  
  
Chloé spends the entire class period glaring at the new girl who is just flat out ignoring her. _No one_ ignores Chloé Aurélie Bourgeois! Chloé Bourgeois is the one who ignores you! When class ends, the joint effort of Sabrina and Lila forcibly remove the blonde from her seat. “I know what you’re gonna say and I couldn’t exactly _call_ you in class—”  
  
Chloé stops walking causing the others to do the same. “You could’ve sent me a text, Sabrina! Or ask to go to the restroom! You could’ve literally done anything to stop this from happening!”  
  
“ _Really_? And just how would I do that?”  
  
“Your papa is the chief of police! Through his weight around for fuck’s sake!”  
  
“I know you’re pissed but bitching at me won’t do anything. _I_ didn’t bring the new girl in the school. And you know what? None of this would’ve happened if you made it to school on time!”  
  
“Audrey and I had an emergency spa appointment!”  
  
“Then you could’ve called _me_ to let me know you were gonna be late!”  
  
Lila puts an arm on each of their shoulders, “ladies, ladies. Don’t let the cute new girl throw us off. I’ll find out everything there is to know about her.” The brunette licks her lips. “Marinette could use a friend.”  
  
“Mari-what?”  
  
“Marinette.” Lila replies. “Marinette Dupain-Cheng. That’s what she said her name is.” The brunette hums, “would I take her last names or would she take mine? I don’t think you can hyphenate a name twice—” Sabrina facepalms.  
  
Adrien runs over to them, “Chloé what happened!? Your texts said something urgent happened!”  
  
“Adrikins, I sent you those texts over a half-hour ago.”  
  
“I already went to the bathroom before I got the texts so I couldn’t go back. Plus, we were in the middle of a test.” Chloé holds up a hand and shakes her head. “What happened? Are you hurt? Should we call Tante Audrey or Oncle André?”  
  
“Some rude albeit pretty new girl just mouthed off to Chloé.” Lila replies with a shrug.  
  
Adrien gapes, it takes several seconds of sputtering and opening and closing his mouth like a fish before he runs a hand down his face. “You know the definition of the word _urgent_ , don’t you Chloé?”  
  
“This _is_ urgent, Adrikins. A student just declared war against me!”  
  
“Is this gonna be like another Alix Kubdel thing?”  
  
“That angry little gremlin snarks at everyone, her words hold no weight with me—”  
  
“Anymore.” Lila mutters, miming zipping her mouth when Chloé glares at her.  
  
🐉  
  
Mme. Mendeleiev is sitting on M. Damocles’ desk laughing when Mme. Bustier barrels into the office panting. “I—” She takes a deep breath pointing at the door, “ _akuma_!”  
  
“Oh for heaven’s sake!” Damocles hits the alarm. “Who did Chloé Bourgeois upset this time? I feel like I should get a bingo book or something—”  
  
“Herself.” Damocles and Mendeleiev exchange a confused glance, “ _Chloé_ is akumatized. A new girl...” Bustier takes a deep breath, “a new girl, she refused to give up Chloé’s seat.” The redhead runs a hand down her face, “I should’ve put her anywhere else—”  
  
“Oh no. That little brat has been terrorizing this school for two years! Why do you put up with it!?”  
  
“You don’t understand. The Bourgeois family are powerful, as are the Agrestes, Beauréals, and... dammit what was the other one?”  
  
“Graham de Vanily.” Bustier adds.  
  
“And they are all close family friends! They back the school. We wouldn’t afford D’Argencourt teaching our students _fencing_ and other sports collèges wish they had.”  
  
“You’re letting a brat walk all over the staff because of _fencing_!?”  
  
“Did you want D’Argencourt to go to Merryfield? I think not! By having fencing in our school, we increase the school’s worth and as a result we get better funding.”  
  
“I fucking can’t believe you, Geoff. You’d let a kid run rampant because of money?”  
  
“I don’t hear you complaining about our state of the art coffee machine in the teacher’s lounge, Céleste.”  
  
“That girl’s in my homeroom. I need copious amounts of caffeine to deal with her because I damn sure can’t drink on the schoolgrounds. And I didn’t sell my soul to the devil to get the machine.”  
  
“No, you simply reap the benefits.”  
  
“I think you put that brat in my class on purpose.”  
  
“I believe Chloé needs the right guidance.” Bustier pipes in.  
  
“Right. ‘Guidance.’” The brunette snorts, “guidance you are clearly not willing to give. None of you are and I’m not gonna add childrearing to my accolades.”  
  
“She needs a gentle hand—”  
  
“Bullshit. The girl needs a verbal spanking. I applaud this new girl for not letting Bourgeois walk all over her.”  
  
“You’re both wrong.” Damocles sighs, “and yet you’re both right. But it’s just one more year before she’s some lycée’s problem.” He picks up the megaphone, “standard akumatization procedures ladies.”  
  
🐉  
  
A ten-hour flight and several time zone changes pass before Fù Wáng finds himself in Paris, France. As soon as the plane reached France’s airspace, Fù felt the dark magic. It was so overwhelming and sudden, he needed an airbag.  
  
As he gets off the plane, he sees purple-blackish butterflies almost blanketing the sky and trees covered in blue feathers.  
  
The situation is far worse than the Order described, and to think they are willing to let the city “work itself out.” That’ll only lead to its self-destruction and inaction cost Fù dearly in the past and he was damned if he was going to let it happen again.  
  
As he makes his way through the airport, he notices the butterflies are even indoors. Surprisingly or rather _unsurprisingly_ , the citizens don’t seem all that effected by the butterflies overhead. But after months of attacks, they’re most likely used to it. His fellow newcomers from the plane, however, are walking to their destination warily.  
  
Fù nearly stumbles but catches himself. The Miraculouses in his suitcase are crying out for their partners. That’s... never happened before. But neither has the butterfly Miraculous able to conjure up so many butterflies and affect multiple people at once.  
  
Whoever was wielding the Miraculous would be a dangerous enemy.  
  
As for the peafowl Miraculous with the feathers, pardon the pun, waiting in the wings – Fù will have to pay closer attention to them.  
  
It’s obvious the peafowl and butterfly owners aren’t working together. Which is a small mercy. (For now. It’s only a matter of time before they find a way to convene.)  
  
Fù quickly hails a cab to reach his destination.  
  
Le Grand Paris is larger than he expected but after spending the past year back in the small one floor temple, even the one-story buildings were big in comparison.  
  
His first order of business is to distribute the turtle Miraculous. Wayzz’s bubbling power can gather up the butterflies and feathers not in use before they find targets.  
  
Fù approaches the front desk. The receptionist in front of him has dark green hair and their tips are teal. The gold embroidered name-tag says Luka. Fù’s carry-on rattles violently. _Ah_. He found a match already? The bag rattles again as if it were answering his question.  
  
“Bonjour! Welcome to Le Grand Paris, we hope your stay is... grand.” Luka forces a wide, all-teeth smile.  
  
Fù is barely at eye level with the counter and there’s no way he’d be able to reach the receptionist to show them his cellphone. “I booked my room online. It said you need my confirmation code.”  
  
“Right. If you pull up the page I’ll take care of it.”  
  
Luka takes mercy on him and leans forward to reach the phone without Fù having to struggle too much to tiptoe. The furthest elevator on the right across the hall opens and a balding blond man dashes out of the elevator. He looks around the lobby then his eyes fall on the desk. He sighs in relief as he approaches. “Couffaine! Thank heavens you’re here. Do you have plans tomorrow morning?”  
  
“Uh, school? It starts up tomorrow.”  
  
“Oh, right. You’re seventeen. I keep forgetting. Is there any way I can convince you to take a skip day?” Luka raises an eyebrow, “Wednesday is the fourteenth birthday of my darling daughter Chloé! Everyone who is anyone will be checking into the hotel tomorrow for her surprise party. I’ve already received RSVPs from XY and Clara Nightingale! I need as many staff members present to make the banquet hall as exceptional as my daughter!”  
  
“I can come in after school—”  
  
“Excellent! Oh merci, merci! _Ah_!” The man runs over to two bellhops relaying the same speech.  
  
Luka returns Fù’s cellphone, “you are all set M. Wáng. Your, uh, name was on the confirmation...” The teen trails off nervously.  
  
“Ah. Of course. Merci, Luka.” Luka smiles and not the same distressing one from earlier.  
  
Luka hands him the keycard and a couple of brochures. “The hotel has its own catering and kitchen staff but there are some outside eateries that deliver in case you’re in the mood for something else. Is there anything else I can help you with?”  
  
“I think I can handle it from here. Merci.”  
  
“No prob. Enjoy your stay.”  
  
Fù’s room is on the third floor. He didn’t want it too high up or too low either. Once inside, he opens his suitcase and takes out an aluminum lunchbox. Placing his left pointer and middle finger on the lunchbox he chants the incantation and the box shifts into its original form. It would be rather difficult to explain carrying a box of magical artifacts to security so he disguised it.  
  
The box opens and the nine Miraculouses inside pulse before their respective kwamis fly out. “Master!” Mullo, the mouse kwami, flies over to him wrapping his arms around as much of Fù’s cheek as his arms can reach in a hug.  
  
Fù chuckles picking up his Miraculous and fastening it around his neck as Mullo nuzzles their faces together.  
  
“Pretty subpar accommodations, Master.” The bird kwami, Orikko, confesses as she looks around.  
  
“It’ll have to do.” The other kwamis begin looking around the hotel room as well, “remember why we’re here.”  
  
“To protect the world from improper uses of magics.” The kwamis chorus dutifully.  
  
Fù nods, “and it is my duty as Guardian to unite you with your Chosen wielders to assist you in this endeavor.”  
  
“That’s all well and good...” Plagg, the cat kwami, begins, “but can we eat?”  
  
“Master gave us food before we went into the Miracle Box.” The ladybug kwami, Tikki, admonishes. Plagg rolls his eyes.  
  
“Food is one request I can fill.” Beaming, Plagg sticks his tongue out at Tikki who rolls her eyes in reply. Fù opens one of the brochures. “Hmm. Sabine & Tom Boulangerie Pâtissèrie?” All the kwamis float over to him. “Grand Opening.” All the kwamis eyes light up as they read the menu. This pâtissèrie has something for everyone.  
  
There’s an explosion that reverberates through the building and the dragon kwami, Longg, begins glowing. They gasp. “My Chosen is in danger!”  
  
“The food will have to wait. Mullo—”  
  
“No time, Master.” Longg grabs their Miraculous and its accompanied personalized miniature Miracle Box. “I’ll move faster on my own.” The miniature Miracle Box transforms into a tube of red lip balm and Longg wraps their choker around it before they disappear in a flash.  
  
After several seconds of everyone silently staring at where Longg was once floating, Plagg rubs the back of his neck. “So... that means we’re getting the food, right?”  
  
🐉  
  
Longg zips through the city following the aura calling out to them. There’s a fifteen meter blonde stomping through the streets. “I am Chloé Bourgeois and I am Larger Than Life! I told you I’d make your life hell, New Girl!” The blonde roars.  
  
The aura flickers like a beacon and the dragon finds their Chosen, a little battered but overall safe, crouching near a building peering around a corner muttering to themselves. Making sure the coast is clear, Longg flies to the teen. “I found you!” The blue-haired girl looks up and her eyebrows furrow before her eyes widen in recognition. She slowly reaches a hand toward Longg petting their head.  
  
“Weird. Why did I know you were coming? Whatever you are.”  
  
“The aura never lies. I am Longg, your kwami. I believe it is currently the best approach to state my pronouns beforehand? Kwamis don’t... essentially have what humans refer to as ‘genders,’ or rather we are considered ‘mono-gendered,’ but we have become accustomed to human pronouns due to our time spent with humans. Mine are they and them. Now that that is out of the way. It’s good to finally meet you, Mlle. Marinette.”  
  
“They and them. Got it. Now, how did you know my name but I didn’t know yours?”  
  
“That is a question I have found myself wondering...” Longg shakes their head, “but there’s plenty of time for questions later.” They hold out the lip balm to Marinette, “you already know what you need to do.”  
  
“How about a quick refresher?”  
  
Longg sighs, jerking a hand behind them. “We need to stop that.”  
  
“I was afraid you’d say that. Look, Longg, you’re adorable but unless you’re gonna magically transform me into something that size I—” Marinette facepalms, “that’s exactly what you’re gonna do, isn’t it?”  
  
“Not quite. I will transform you, that’s a given, but I’m not the kwami of size altering... if such a kwami exists. I’m the kwami of elements. Think about what you want your appearance to represent then put on the choker and say ‘Longg, tip the scales.’”  
  
Marinette takes a deep breath fastening the choker around her neck and sticking the lip balm into her purse, “alright. I’m being chased by an obnoxious giant brat. I’m talking to a tiny floating dragon plushie. Let’s just take things to an eleven. _Longg, tip the scales_!” Longg flies into the choker and Marinette gasps. “Holy Sailor Moon!”  
  
Marinette can see the transformation in her glowing body. First, her mouth forcibly opens and she feels several teeth extending. Next, her skin transforms into red and gold scales – which is admittedly rather badass; she even grows a long red and gold tail and _wings_. _Oh_. It’s not her skin, it’s a suit. Damn. Well, its still badass. The same scaly material of her suit slots a domino mask over her eyes. Her hair flies out of its signature twin-tails and grows past her shoulders then turns red with gold highlights.  
  
When the transformation ends, Marinette is looking at herself. The suit, thankfully, is not as skintight as it looks. There’s a gold sword sheathed and attached to her back, between her wings.  
  
“Okay. This is pretty cool.” The redhead gingerly taps at one of her fangs, “this isn’t permanent, is it?” Furrowing her eyebrows, she taps the choker. “Longg? Longg, I know you’re in there. Wait, can I not talk to you like this? What kind of familiar are you?” Marinette unsheathes her sword and sighs, “guess I’m figuring it out on my own.”  
  
🐉  
  
The police car jerks to a stop in front of the school and André runs out of the car and into the building past all the students in the courtyard. “Angel! Chloé! Papa is here!”  
  
“M. Bourgeois!” The police chief, Roger, calls after him.  
  
“Papa!” Sabrina runs over to him.  
  
Roger sighs in relief, hugging his daughter, “I’m glad you’re safe. What happened?”  
  
Sabrina grimaces, “a new girl, she kinda got... snippy with Chloé. Needless to say, Chloé didn’t take it very well. I told her to stop thinking about it and, well, you can see it didn’t work.” Roger pinches the bridge of his nose, “an akuma flew into Chloé’s sunglasses and—” Sabrina points to the hole in the roof and Roger’s jaw drops.  
  
After a few seconds of gaping, Roger takes another deep breath. “I tried calling the mayor but she wasn’t picking up. What happened to the girl who upset Chloé?”  
  
“She ran.”  
  
“What does she look like?”  
  
“What good will that do, Papa? If Chloé sees her she’ll just attack you for harboring her.”  
  
“Sabrina, I can’t let a student run around the city during an akuma attack... even if she’s unintentionally the cause of said akuma attack.”  
  
“Is everyone out of the building?” The principal asks over the megaphone.  
  
“M. Bourgeois went inside!” Roger tells the principal.  
  
“I see... well, thankfully he’s not a student. Stick close together everyone—” The principal gasps as he sees the still akumatized Chloé in the distance. “Go! Away from the building and down the street! Hurry!” He instructs. The students instantly comply.  
  
Sabrina slips away from her father and joins the rest of the students.  
  
A red blur runs past André as he makes his way back out the building, “what the—”  
  
Chloé stops in front of the school and screams, “first that bitch, and now this?!”  
  
“Chloé!” André frantically waves his arms, getting his daughter’s attention. “Talk to me, Angel!”  
  
“Oh Papa!” Chloé sniffles. “Audrey’s gonna have to fire someone for this!” She picks up André then sets him on her shoulder. “There’s some red lizard or something that won’t stay still.”  
  
“A _lizard_!? Another akumatization?” The teen shakes her head, “a senti-feather?”  
  
“Maybe.”  
  
“Let’s take care of it then you can tell me about this girl.”  
  
A ball of slush hits Chloé right on the left side of her face. André has to grip on her shirt collar so he doesn’t plummet to his death when his daughter quickly whirls around. There is a red... _thing_ standing on a building with a large snowball in its hand. “Figured that would get your attention.”  
  
“ _You_!” Chloé seethes and the butterfly mask appears over her eyes. “you’re _dead_!” André’s eyes widen as Chloé rushes at the lizard or whatever and it unsheathes a sword then charges right back at his daughter.  
  
“Chloé, _no_!”  
  
The sword turns into sparks and André _feels_ the effects rather than sees it. With him sitting on Chloé he’s being electrocuted alongside her. Chloé’s sunglasses snap in two and the akuma flies out of them.  
  
The lizard’s still sparking sword slashes at the butterfly disintegrating it into red dust and Chloé begins to shrink until she returns to normal size. The problem is, she was just fifteen meters tall so now with her shrinking _in the air_ the two of them fall to the ground.  
  
The lizard catches them a centimeter before they become stains on the concrete.  
  
Shaking her head, Chloé sits up and blinks then glares. Her broken sunglasses fall into her lap. “ _My sunglasses_!” She wails. “You stupid reptile, those cost two-thousand euros!”  
  
“Then maybe you shouldn’t’ve let a butterfly fly into them.” Chloé grits her teeth but André grabs her.  
  
“Merci beaucoup.”  
  
“ _Papa, you’re thanking it_?!”  
  
“From saving you from dying from that fall! And from staying akumatized!”  
  
“It _electrocuted_ us!” The lizard... or _dragon_ upon closer inspection narrows their gold eyes ~~ _and is still holding a golden sword_~~ ~~.~~  
  
“ _Look_!” Someone gasps. André turns around and the hole in the roof Chloé caused begins to repair itself through a red and gold glow.  
  
“What the hell?”  
  
André turns back to the liz— _dragon_ but they’re gone. Could destroying the butterflies repair the city? His wallet feels lighter already with the revelation. Although... he has to wonder if they could be destroyed conventionally? If once they make contact with an item it gets akumatized, how could they be destroyed? Hopefully, that dragon has some answers.  
  
🐉  
  
Marinette _flies through the air_ then lands on her balcony pulling the choker off her neck. The transformation instantly breaks and the choker flashes gold before it turns red-violet and Longg tumbles out of the fang-shaped bead. The tiny dragon looks around then winces, “right... forgot to tell you how to detransform.”  
  
“You think?”  
  
Longg shrugs, “not bad for your first time though.” They hold up a hand and Marinette shakes her head before high-fiving it. “To break the transformation simply say: ‘Longg, clear skies.’” Marinette nods. “As you already guessed, the akumas need to be destroyed. If that thought disheartens you, fear not! They aren’t real butterflies, merely constructs of pure dark energy given a butterfly’s appearance. They can only be destroyed by magic.”  
  
“Isn’t ‘magic beating magic’ like a cardinal rule or something?”  
  
“It is! But not just any magic can destroy an akuma, it has to be pure energy.” Marinette’s eyebrows furrow. “Now... speaking of energy, I require sustenance after every transformation. I also require sustenance multiple times a day like any other breathing organic and magical organism.”  
  
“Right.” She beckons Longg over and then Marinette climbs down the fire escape with Longg hovering beside her.  
  
“In case I have not made it obvious, we will need to be together to combat akumatizations and sentient feathers.” Marinette loses her footing but Longg dives down and catches her by her jacket hood before she falls ass first on the concrete.  
  
“You’re stronger than you look, grazie. No wait, _merci_.”  
  
“My pleasure all the same.” He carefully sets Marinette on her feet and the blue-haired teen opens her purse.  
  
“You can hide in here, and there’s some cookies inside for you to munch on. I’ll make a pillow or something after school.” Marinette grimaces, “speaking of school, I should probably get back. I really hope I get excused for being chased through an unfamiliar city by a giant snob.” Fortunately, the boulangerie pâtissèrie is two blocks from the school. What Marinette isn’t expecting is the gaggle of students the next block over heading back into the school.  
  
“The akuma attack is over.” The principal states over the megaphone, “everyone back inside. Take a minute to gather yourselves then head to class. Classes will resume in ten minutes.”  
  
It’s easy enough to slink in behind the group like she was there the entire time. When Marinette reaches her locker there’s that perky short blonde in a pink dress who sat next to her in the first class. She gasps as Marinette gets closer. “Are you alright?”  
  
“Nothing’s broken.”  
  
The girl sighs in relief, “thank goodness!”  
  
“Sorry about this but what was your name again?”  
  
The blonde perks up. “No worries! It’s Rose. If you have any questions at all I’d be happy to answer them if I can.”  
  
Marinette sets some stuff in her locker and closes it then they start walking to class. “There is one question that comes to mind: What’s the deal with that blonde girl?”  
  
The blonde beside her instantly deflates, “that’s just Chloé. As you witnessed, it’s easier to just let her have her way. You aren’t the first new kid to try and oppose her on your first day. They all start like that. It barely takes the full week before they realize there’s no point in fighting. Chloé is relentless _and_ her maman is the mayor.”  
  
“Okay. This is just straight-up sad. If Blondielocks doesn’t get you to back down she’ll go after your family and all your friends. She’s a classic cliché egomaniacal starter villain.” Marinette shakes her head then circles her pointer finger in the air, “what about the butterflies?”  
  
Rose sighs, “unexplained magical phenomenon. They just showed up one day out of the blue in the summer and have stuck around ever since. They feed off negative emotions. So do the feathers.”  
  
“I’m sorry? _Feathers_?”  
  
It’s not really surprising Chloé isn’t in the classroom. Everyone stares at Marinette as Rose sympathetically pats her on the shoulder before fleeing to her seat. “Just sit anywhere.” The teacher tells her then returns their attention to the chalkboard.  
  
There’s an empty seat in the first row, closest seat to the door. Unlike the last two classrooms she was in these desks are single-person. Marinette takes it and she looks over her shoulder at everyone still staring at her.  
  
The bespectacled orange-haired girl runs into the classroom, taking the furthest seat to the right in the front row. She sets her bag down then looks across the classroom and glares at Marinette.  
  
Marinette rolls her eyes then props her arm against her face effectively blocking out everything to her right. ~~Inwardly grinning when she hears a loud offended gasp.~~  
  
The rest of the school day pretty much goes like this: Chloé and her orange-haired buddy blatantly glaring at her while the rest of the class openly stares wide-eyed like they’re expecting her to do something. Not one classmate spoke to her after Rose did before they got to class after the akuma attack. (That’s what they called it, right? She’ll have to talk to Longg.)  
  
When school mercifully ends, Marinette heads home. There’s a line of people down the block and she has to squeeze through a small crowd crammed in the doorway to get in the boulangerie pâtissèrie.  
  
“Fragola!” Marinette yelps as she’s lifted in the air in a bone-crushing hug. Her face is being squished into a shoulder but she’d recognize that smell of leather and motorcycle oil anywhere. “Mio Dio, you’re so _big_!”  
  
“Mamma, I thought you came to help!”  
  
“Fragola, you’re going to love your presents!” Her grandma, Gina, gushes setting her down with one last squeeze, “calm down, Bambino, mamma will handle everything.” Gina takes the tablet out from under her arm.  
  
“Good seeing you, Nonna.”  
  
“You’re so precious—”  
  
“ _Mamma_!”  
  
“I can take orders and gush about Fragola at the same time!”  
  
“Marinette, please come here so you’re not distracting your nonna.”  
  
Marinette gives her grandma an apologetic smile and hug before heading behind the counter. “Ciao, papà.” She gives him a one-armed hug.  
  
“Ciao, Tesoro. I’m sorry to put you to work after your first day of school but as you can see—” He gestures to the line, “I knew when we met your mamma was a genius, though I questioned it when she proposed to me—” Marinette giggles, “but her idea of having a social media page worked out too well. We’ve been swamped since we opened!” ~~Huh. Thinking back on it, there~~ ~~ _was_~~ ~~a line when she was heading back to school earlier today.~~  
  
“It’s the grand opening, papà, everyone wants to be the first to try something.”  
  
“I’m so glad you turned out to be like your mamma!”  
  
Marinette laughs. Someone clears their throat and Marinette tilts her head past her father to see her grandpa angrily kneading some dough at the back station. “Ciao, nonno.” He grunts at her.  
  
“So good to finally be noticed.”  
  
“Don’t start, Roland.” Gina warns, directing people out the boulangerie pâtissèrie. “We’ll get to all your orders. Grazie for waiting! You’re all lovely!” The crowd cheers.  
  
“It’s a good thing you have her on crowd control. Gina’ll set the place on fire boiling water.” Roland mutters, “and all those times you wanted to _hang_ and spend time with your mamma instead of learning how to cook.”  
  
Tom sighs as he puts a tray in the oven, “ _papà_ , per favore!”  
  
Sabine enters the shop with two empty trays under her arms. “Do I need to go on another grocery run?” She asks her husband who shakes his head.  
  
“We should be good. I really need you to help us back here.”  
  
“But what about—” The blue-haired woman pauses then blinks at her daughter who grins. Blinking again, Sabine does a belated double-take, “ _Marinette_!? What are you doing here?”  
  
“School’s over, mā mā.”  
  
“ _It is_!? What time is it!?”  
  
“16:52.” Gina replies, from outside.  
  
“When I turned around it wasn’t even noon.” Marinette hugs her, “how was school—”  
  
“When can ask that when the rush dies down.” Roland grumbles.  
  
Sabine opens her mouth then closes it, exhaling deeply through her nose. “Mā mā, I got this. Put me where you need me.”  
  
Smiling, Sabine tenderly cradles her daughter’s face. “You get that excitable, helpful nature from Tom.”  
  
“Hey, don’t blame me! I don’t know where it came from!” Gina laughs and Roland mutters several choice Italian swears.  
  
They put Marinette outside to greet and take customer orders. Whenever anyone gets too close to the thirteen-year-old or their eyes linger on her, Gina emerges with a rolling pin in one hand and a pair of brass knuckles in the other. Two grown men ran out of the line after that after they already paid for their orders.  
  
It takes two hours and another grocery run before the line shrinks to a reasonable ten customers patiently waiting in front of the boulangerie pâtissèrie.  
  
“Yeah. I got it. Whatever a cruell-er is. _Fine_.” An orange-haired girl hangs up the phone as she steps in the line. Marinette was designated to handing out free samples as the line dwindled. She _absolutely_ did not approach the girl because she was pretty, no sir. Nor did she swerve herself and the tray out of the way of the person in line in front of the approaching girl.  
  
“Ni— _Bonjour_. Free sample? It’s a sfogliatelle.”  
  
The girl’s eyebrows shoot up, “a... a _what_!?”  
  
Gina comes out nowhere then whispers in Marinette’s ear before disappearing. “My nonna just told me they also call it a ‘lobster tail?’”  
  
The girl shrugs in reply, “never heard of it but I’ll give it a try. Merci.” She picks up on and raises it in a salute before taking a bite. Eyes widening, the girl drops her phone and Marinette grabs it before it hits the sidewalk. “This is so good! Oh shit! My phone. Great catch.”  
  
“I’m an expert at dropping my phone... wait, that’s not something to brag about.”  
  
The girl chuckles, “hey, how old are you?”  
  
“Thirteen.”  
  
“Me too. If this place just opened you must’ve just got here. Did you get registered for school yet?”  
  
Marinette nods, “I did. I had my first day at François Düpont today.”  
  
“No way. I go there. I’m in Mme. Bustier’s class. What about you?”  
  
“Um. Mme. Me-Mel—Mei...? Mend?”  
  
“Mendeleiev?” As Marinette nods, the girl whistles, “I do not envy you. They call that the akuma class.”  
  
“I can see why.”  
  
“I’m Alya.”  
  
“Marinette.” They awkwardly greet each other with the cheek kiss then chuckle.  
  
“I’ve been here since November and I’m still not used to that.” Alya laughs.  
  
“At least I won’t be the only one messing it up.”  
  
Marinette had been walking back toward the building beside Alya as the line shortened and people were coming in and out of the boulangerie pâtissèrie. Gina gives her granddaughter a knowing look as the two teens enter the building.  
  
“This place is so cute!” Alya states.  
  
Gina pats Marinette on the shoulders taking the empty tray from her, “Fragola is the genius behind the design.”  
  
“Fragle-what?”  
  
“Fragola. It means strawberry in Italian.”  
  
“She used to be Mirtillo, which is blueberry, but that seemed obvious, no?”  
  
“Is your ma trying to flirt with me for you?” Marinette blushes. “Which I don’t mind, by the way. Just wanted to make sure.” It shouldn’t be possible but her face turns redder.  
  
“Did you hear that Bambino, she thinks I’m Fragola’s mamma!” Gina chuckles, “oh, I’d love to have you as a granddaughter, Ciliegia.”  
  
“Whoa. _Oh_. Grandma, you said? And I thought my grandma looked young. And keeping with the fruit theme, I’m gonna guess: cherry?”  
  
“Fragola, she’s a keeper.”  
  
“ _Nonna_!”  
  
Alya has a big order and explains she has three sisters, two younger and one older, plus her parents. Tom offers to give her a ride back to her place in the delivery van and after Gina’s less than subtle hinting Marinette tags along.  
  
“Did you do fencing yet?”  
  
“ _Fencing_?”  
  
“François Düpont has a world-renowned fencing teacher. He teaches us techniques he teaches pros.” Marinette whistles. “This girl in my class, Kagami, came all the way from Japan and she’s been doing fencing since she was three and even she says he’s on the level. We arrived at François Düpont the same time so we hit it off. I’ll introduce you. Maybe we can all eat lunch together?”  
  
“I’d like that. I couldn’t find where the cafeteria was so I spent all lunch period looking for it without eating.”  
  
“That happened to me and Kagami our first day too! The cafeteria design is so weird!”  
  
“I saw a sign that said it was being remodeled.”  
  
“Probably because of all the akuma attacks.” Marinette nods with a hum.  
  
When they reach Alya’s apartment, _Anansi_ opens the door. “Sup.” Marinette gapes and nearly drops the cloche. “Appreciate you looking after Aly, man.” She pats Tom on the shoulder and he _winces_.  
  
Two identical little girls pop from behind the couch. “I love your hair!” The one in yellow says running over to Marinette.  
  
“Oh my gosh, so do I!” Says the one in green, “I’m Etta and she’s Ella.”  
  
“I love your hair. I can never do a plain ponytail right.” The twins’ eyes light up.  
  
“We can show you! We do each other’s hair!”  
  
“Wait a second!” Tom points at a family photo, “t-th—I— _hm_.” Everyone stares at him. “M-Marlena Césaire lives here!?” Alya and her sisters nod. “O-Oh. Oh my goodness! This is unbelievable. I’d love to meet her. No. She’s probably at work. I’m such a huge fan! Am I yelling? I feel like I'm rambling. I'm just gonna stop talking now.”

“We can definitely arrange an introduction.” Anansi walks over to Tom holding out her cellphone.  
  
“Wow. The first book I’ve ever read was Marlena Césaire’s cookbook.”  
  
“The first—” Alya blinks at her, “wow. Ma read us all the book too.”  
  
They didn’t meet Marlena but they did meet her husband and the girls’ father, Otis, who thanked them profusely for the pâtissèries and bringing Alya home. Alya and Marinette exchange numbers, and Anansi – given name Nora – also gave Marinette her number.  
  
With a content sigh, Marinette flops down on her chaise. Longg flies out of her purse, holding the lip balm, and floats in front of her face. “There’s something you should know.”  
  
“Lay it on me.”  
  
“ _This_.” They hand Marinette the lip balm, “is a communication device.”  
  
Marinette blinks, “it’s lip balm.”  
  
“That’s the shape it took.” Longg shrugs, “I don’t know why it took that shape. You’re the one that subconsciously changed it.”  
  
Marinette hums. “Is it... useable?”  
  
“To communicate with?”  
  
“To _use_ , on my lips.” Marinette slowly sits up and uncaps the cover and takes a tentative sniff, “of course it’s strawberry.” She swipes some of the lip balm on her pointer finger and rubs her pointer finger and thumb together. “Feels real.”  
  
“Its true form is my personalized Miracle Box. It’s what we’re placed in to find our partner but you were in danger so I came to you. Master has seven more individuals to distribute Miraculouses to.”  
  
“‘Miraculouses?’”  
  
“Oh!” Longg facepalms, “I tried to be less long-winded and I ended up forgetting to tell you important things.” They take a deep breath, “ _this—_ ” They take out the choker from the purse, “is your Miraculous. It—”  
  
“Turns me into a dragon.”  
  
“That it does. It also, as you discovered, grants you power over the elements. Be advised, using my Miraculous will grant you dragon-like abilities.”  
  
Marinette blinks, “come again?”  
  
“The trade-off for the power is developing tendencies and animalistic traits... and occasionally features of the kwami.”  
  
“I see. Wouldn’t having _dragon_ traits and features make me easy to spot?”  
  
Longg shakes their head, “no. The changes are subtle.”  
  
Unconvinced, Marinette’s eyes narrow, “if you say so.”  
  
“I’ve had several holders and the majority of them were never discovered. Speaking of previous partners, I should explain how you were chosen. See, you are the reincarnation of my last partner. Once a kwami has found an agreeable soul we tether ourselves to that soul for eternity. Although human lifespans are about a tenth of a kwamis their souls live on forever, passing from person to person and so on.”  
  
“Honestly? That’s a bit creepy.” Marinette accepts the choker Longg hands her, “why did it change color? To hide itself? Like the Miracle Box?”  
  
“When active, it turns gold. This is its camouflaged form.” Huh. Marinette really hadn’t paid attention to it when she first put it on and she couldn’t see it while transformed. “now, about your communication device. It’s how you’ll get in contact with your team and the Master. Because of your situation, you were the first to be partnered up.”  
  
“About that... I can’t just dragon up and knock that blonde around a bit?”  
  
“Well, I—” Longg frowns, “simply put: you _could_. Though I’d advise against it. It’s never a good thing to use your abilities to settle a personal vendetta. _However_ , I am one-hundred percent in agreeance with using them in self-defense. But, another addition, your strength and stamina will increase with extended exposure to my magic so... should you ‘knock anyone around’ dial your strength back a bit. In rare cases, you’ll be able to use magic yourself – without transforming. Needless to say, it won’t be as strong as our combined power but it’ll do some damage nonetheless. _Now—_ ” Longg claps their hands together, “since we’re going to be together for the foreseeable future we should know more about each other.”  
  
“Agreed. You said you eat, what do you like to eat?”  
  
“I’m not picky. I’ll appreciate anything you give me—”  
  
“You say that _now_ and you’ll end up trying something you hate.”  
  
“I loved the cookies you gave me.”  
  
“You _did_?” Marinette blinks, “I made ‘em myself. They were a test batch so...” She trails off with a shrug.  
  
Longg puts a hand on her shoulder, “I can’t wait to learn more about you.”  
  
Marinette smiles, “me too.”  
  
🐉  
  
“Marinette!” Before she reaches the staircase of François Düpont, Alya jovially runs over to her. Behind Alya, Marinette recognizes some of her classmates whispering among themselves before scurrying into the building. How much longer is this gonna go on for?” “Bonjour!”  
  
“Bonjour, Alya.”  
  
“Nora found this dirty Italian dictionary and she asked for some confirmation on a few words.”  
  
Marinette laughs, “I know more Mandarin swears than Italian but I can give it a shot.” She pauses, “I could also ask Nonna.”  
  
Alya puts an arm around her wait, “you, my friend, are amazing. It’s a fact. It’s difficult as shit learning a third language fluently. And we’re also best friends now. Another fact.”  
  
“Best friends, huh? I can live with that. Also... you speak three languages too?”  
  
Alya ticks off with her fingers, “French Creole, which I’m realizing is a bit different than flat out French. Uh, Arabic and English.”  
  
“So that’s four languages.”  
  
“Three-and-a-half?” Alya shrugs. Marinette laughs. Longg, in her purse, must’ve moved or shifted or something because she feels a sharp pain in her side causing her to groan. “You okay?”  
  
“Yup.”  
  
Alya gasps, “are you having cramps? Nora told me what to do—”  
  
“ _No_!” Marinette blushes, “I’m good! Plus, I already had that talk from Māma and Nonna.”  
  
“Bet Nora’s talk was worse than your nonna’s.”  
  
“I see your bet and wage some homemade mango pudding.”  
  
“Ooh. My ma doesn’t specialize in desserts but she makes some mean fekkas.” They shake hands then start walking up the stairs, arm in arm.  
  
Longg somehow moves her _and Alya_ while still inside their purse before Chloé can push them out of the way.  
  
“Those were so damn good reflexes.” Alya whistles. “Probably heard her cheap heels clacking.” The blonde glares then huffs as she walks up the stairs with the orange-haired girl running after her. Marinette groans, “what’s her deal?”  
  
“You said they call my class the ‘akuma class?’ There went reason numero uno.”  
  
“Wait a second. I saw her akumatized yesterday.” Alya takes her phone out of her shirt pocket then shows it to Marinette. The video starts playing. The blue-haired teen blinks as she sees herself – well her dragon self – gripping her sword as she flies at the oversized blonde before the video cuts off. “Wish I would’ve gotten a better shot but I can only zoom in so far.”  
  
“It’s still pretty good.”  
  
“I wonder what they’re called? I didn’t get close enough to get a good look at them.”  
  
“Isn’t that a good thing? It means you weren’t in danger.”  
  
Alya frowns putting her phone back in her pocket, “I suppose. But I don’t wanna run around and wait to be in danger before getting a closer look at a superhero!”  
  
“S-Superhero?”  
  
“What else could they be? They came exactly when we needed them.” Alya’s eyes sparkle, “I love superheroes. And I’d love it even more if I didn’t have to worry about akumas and amoks on my way to school.”  
  
“B-But do you really think this ‘superhero’ or whatever can do this alone?”  
  
“Hell no. Wait, no. That’s wrong. Lemme start over. I do believe they can do it alone. What I mean is, they shouldn’t have to. The only thing better than one superhero is a bunch of ‘em.”  
  
“That _is_ true.”  
  
“Hey, you know... you could always ask to transfer classes if that blonde is a problem. A classmate of mine transferred from your class because of bullying.”  
  
“I bet that girl was responsible for the bullying.” Marinette sighs deeply, “it’s just so—you know the teacher just let the blonde threaten me in front of her?”  
  
“Oh hell no! Fuck that. No one’s gonna threaten my new best friend. I’m transferring _into_ your class.” Alya moves her arm from around Marinette’s arm then storms toward the principal’s office.  
  
“Alya, _wait_!”  
  
Longg yanks her back. “There is a pressing issue.” They hiss, poking their head out from her purse.  
  
The hall is empty but Marinette dashes to the girls’ bathroom then locks the door, “well..? I gotta stop Alya from transferring.”  
  
“No, you really don’t.” Marinette’s eyebrow furrow. “It is as she says, you should not have to do it alone. That blonde girl is a terror and while I do not advocate physical violence against non-Miraculous holders, despite how badly they might deserve it, there should be several nonphysical manners of taking her down.” Longg takes a deep breath, “now the issue at hand. I’d recognize that headstrong aura anywhere. Your friend is an excellent, invaluable ally and a dangerous enemy.”  
  
“What are you—” Marinette’s eyes light up, “she’s getting a Miraculous?” Longg nods. “No way! This is—Wait! Is this one of those _we can’t know who we are because of destiny_ or some crap?”  
  
Longg laughs, “I am happy to tell you such is not the case.” Marinette sighs in relief. “It depends on the person, truly. I’ve been with partners who refused to know who they were working with and I’ve been with partners who shared their identity with their teammates and family.”  
  
Marinette sucks in a breath, “you’ve met my family, can’t imagine them taking me having superpowers.”  
  
Longg grimaces, “neither can I.”  
  
“Um. Can you point out every Miraculous holder?”  
  
Longg shakes their head, “no. Not every. Simply the ones in my cluster.”  
  
“Huh?”  
  
“There are approximately one-thousand kwamis in existence. As a result, there are one-thousand holders. Kwamis are broken into groups, or clusters, to protect the world from improper magic usage.”  
  
“Like this thing with the butterflies and feathers?”  
  
Longg nods then pauses, “ _but_ sometimes kwamis themselves are the cause for improper magic use... like the situation we’re in. One-third of the kwamis in existence have no issue with their magic being used to crate chaos and havoc and another one-third have their powers used for mayhem against their will, so... mathematically speaking, the one-third of us who aren’t being used improperly have the odds are stacked against us.”  
  
Marinette sighs, “that’s just grand.” She clicks her tongue. “Okay. So now that we know Alya is getting a Miraculous can we like expedite the process or does she have to be in danger?”  
  
“Her being in danger would expedite the process, surely, but Master’s agenda was handing out Wayzz, the turtle kwami, first. And that girl is not the turtle.”  
  
“Damn.”  
  
“Beyond that, I have no idea if there is any premeditated order of delivery.”  
  
“Gotcha. Will _I_ know who the other holders are?”  
  
“Subconsciously. Like your friend you will bond with them rather quickly, feeling as though you’ve known them your whole life because – in a sense – you have. Well... hm, it’s more like you’ve known them over several lifetimes. Now, this doesn’t necessarily mean your bond will be a _good one—_ ” Marinette opens her mouth but Longg holds up a hand, “I can tell you with confidence and pure relief, that blonde girl is not part of our cluster.” The blue-haired teen sighs in relief.  
  
“One more thing before we go. Alya’s probably already at the principal’s office by now. What was with poking me earlier?”  
  
“ _Oh_.” Longg rubs the back of their neck, “I do apologize for that. The first time anyhow, I lost track of my tail while I was trying to get comfortable.”  
  
“Get you a bigger purse, got it.”  
  
🐉

On her way to the principal’s office, Alya saw Kagami and the blue-haired teen accompanied her. (And Alya just realized her two new best friends both have blue hair but Kagami’s is several shades darker.) The orange-haired teen explained everything and Kagami shakes her head. “How despicable. Hanging on her parents’ coattails and threatening others with their influence.”  
  
“I agree, it is shitty, but it’s clearly working if people are terrified of her. Or terrified of what her parents will do. I’m a little hazy on the specifics.”  
  
“My mother is terrifying yet I have never once used her reputation as a bargaining chip.”  
  
“Your mum is scary, that’s true. I guess my only answer is: everyone’s not you, girl. Sad to say.”  
  
“The same could be said about you. I’ve heard of Marlena Césaire in Japan, that’s how big a name your maman’s is.”  
  
“No fucking wonder they fought tooth-and-nail to get her to come here. They, like, doubled their original offer when she told them about Milan’s counteroffer.”  
  
“Alya, if you cannot be swayed about your decision to transfer classes, I will transfer with you.”  
  
“Really? You don’t have to.”  
  
“You’re wrong. You are not only my only friend in the entire school, but you are my best friend; I cannot and will not abandon you in your quest for smiting evil. Plus, there is strength in numbers. Furthermore, simply put, I wouldn’t mind working on my hand-to-hand combat.” Alya laughs. “I have seen that blonde girl around but she wasn’t worth giving a second glance.”  
  
“Especially with that eyeshadow.” Alya mutters. “What do we tell Damocles when he asks why we’re transferring?”  
  
Kagami hums, “the truth?” Alya gives her a look, “I didn’t think so. Admittedly, I’m not very good at lying.”  
  
“Noted. I’m not great either but I’m sure together we can think of something believable.” Marinette approaches them, “girl, don’t try and talk me out of it.”  
  
“I won’t. I just wanted to say I appreciate you sticking up for me. I mean, we just met yesterday.”  
  
“Alya is very loyal.” The pretty blue-haired girl next to Alya bows, “I’m Kagami.”  
  
Marinette returns the bow, “Marinette.”  
  
“I’m transferring with Alya, if the principal permits it. That girl will have to think thrice before confronting you.”  
  
Alya gives Marinette a thumbs up. “We got your back. Kagami fences and I kickbox. Let someone come after you.”  
  
There’s a line for the principal’s office. Marinette gets to know her two new (best) friends a little better in the meantime. (She wonders if Kagami is a Miraculous holder too?)  
  
“Oh.” Marinette turns around to a pretty green-eyed blond exiting the office. “B-Bonjour, Kagami. Alya.” He blinks at Marinette, “um...”  
  
“Marinette.”  
  
“That’s a pretty name. I’m Adrien.”  
  
Before the blond can move in to greet Marinette with a cheek kiss, a shrill voice yells. “Adrikins!” Chloé glomps on the blond’s back then gasps when she looks up. “Adrikins, what are you doing talking to _her_?” She points a finger at Marinette.  
  
“Chloé, I just met her.”  
  
“There really isn’t any reason to.”  
  
“You’re familiar with her.” Alya and Marinette watch Adrien gulp, “you have been attempting to become friendly with me since my arrival.” Marinette could swear she saw the blond blush, “now that I know who you associate yourself with—” Her eyes cut to Chloé who scowls, “we cannot be friends.”  
  
Adrien’s eyes widen. “What!?”  
  
“Who are _you_ do deny my Adrikins anything!? You should be grateful he wants to be your friend!”  
  
Kagami’s eyes narrow. “Your voice is annoying me.” Chloé snaps her mouth shut. “How does that idiom go? ‘Birds of a feather?’ You rich, white blonds consider the world your oyster. You’re so used to getting what you want denial stuns you.” Adrien gapes at her, “and I bet you’re even less used to people pointing that out.”  
  
“B-But I’m not Chloé—”  
  
“Doesn’t matter. Your friend threatened mine.”  
  
Chloé gets off Adrien’s back then grabs his arm, “you know something. You were right about the world being my oyster. And if you’re friends with _her_ then Adrikins doesn’t need you either. He was probably doing you a favor.” With a huff, the blonde drags Adrien down the hall.  
  
The principal’s office door opens and a student exits sadly. The principal beckons them inside.  
  
🐉  
  
With a heavy sigh, Adrien bangs his head against his locker. ”Don’t be so melodramatic, Adrikins. Whoever that girl is, she wasn’t worth your time.”  
  
He groans lifting his head, “Chloé, you don’t get it! I really like Kagami. A lot. I was looking forward to being friends with her. To hang out with her outside of school. Hearing her say the two of us will never be friends because I’m friends with you, hurt. And this isn’t the first time that’s happened either. Kids in my class eye me with suspicion because they see the two of us together. Chloé, I’m sick of our friendship ruining my chances at making other friends.”  
  
“They’re jealous of you, Adrikins. Jealous of us. Our bond will always surpass any flimsy friendship they try their hands at. And you know what? To hell with them. A real friend wouldn’t be so judgy with who you hang out with. That girl made a huge mistake and she’ll definitely pay for it.”  
  
“Don’t you even think about threatening her.”  
  
“I wasn’t.” Chloé rolls her eyes. “As I said, she isn’t worth your time. Which means she absolutely isn’t worth mine.”  
  
“Funny you would say that. Kagami Tsurugi is the same girl Tante Audrey and papa told us to make friends with.”  
  
“Oops.” Chloé shrugs, “we tried. Her loss. Not our fault she doesn’t carry herself like she comes from money. Did you see her sneakers? Those _Nouvel Argent_ ® Brand knock-offs came out two years ago.”  
  
“What happened to ‘a true friend wouldn’t be so judgy about who you wanna hang out with?’”  
  
“If she wanted to be friends with you, fine, but she doesn’t so – like I said. To hell with her. She’s not good enough for you, Adrikins. I don’t care how pretty or rich she is. So getting this out the way now did us all a favor. And this silly, rather obvious crush you have on her will evaporate.”  
  
“They say you don’t get over your first crush easily.”  
  
“They also say you can’t wear new clothes on a Friday but we both know that’s bull.”  
  
“You’ve never so flippant when something doesn’t go your way, why do you treat my problems as if they’re not an issue?”  
  
“Because this isn’t an issue. You’re blowing it out of proportion.”  
  
“ _I’m blowing it out of proportion_!? I have no friends beside you and Sabrina! I wanted to go to public school so I could make new friends! How am I supposed to make friends when no one wants to talk to me because I know you?”  
  
“You’re looking for friends in all the wrong places.”  
  
“No, my problem is being friends with you.”  
  
Chloé gasps, blinks, then takes a deep breath, “I know you’re upset, Adrikins, so I know you don’t mean that.” An akuma lands on his backpack strap. Chloé‘s eyes widen as the purplish-black butterfly mask appears over Adrien’s now purple eyes.  
  
“I meant exactly what I said.” His voice echoes before the ooze overtakes his body, transforming him.  
  
🐉  
  
Marinette’s in class when she hears an alarm ringing overhead. Everyone gets up, abandoning their tests, swiftly and quietly exiting the classroom two at a time. “Marinette!” Mme. Mendeleiev beckons her, “that’s the akuma attack alert. I’ll teach you all about it when the attack is over. For now, just follow everyone outside the school.”  
  
Marinette follows her schoolmates out the building, then slips away from the crowd to hide behind the building she just exited. She opens her purse and Longg floats out of it. “Go time, Longg. But can I just say that I am not all that eager about this akuma fighting if it’s gonna be a daily thing. I don’t even think Batman works on a daily basis.”  
  
“Batman has dozens of nemeses so he very well could.”  
  
Marinette groans, “tip the scales, Longg.” The transformation feels the same as it did yesterday, but Marinette doesn’t see her flaming red hair past her shoulders. She pats her head and feels her hair in chignon style buns. “This style is cute and a bit more convenient.” A beat. “Why am I talking out loud?”  
  
Chloé runs out of the building, screaming and there’s a grey faceless blob chasing after her.  
  
Longg said not to use her powers for a personal vendetta but they never said to not use them in a similar scenario. When Chloé trips, like every cliché film Marinette’s ever seen foretold, Marinette swoops in and grabs the blonde before the blob could descend upon her.  
  
Chloé gasps then groans, “oh, it’s _you_.” Marinette drops her. “How rude!” Marinette unsheathes her sword. “Wait! D-Don’t electrocute him! My friend Adrien got akumatized because some pretty bitch thought she was too good to associate herself with him.” That isn’t what Marinette saw at all but obviously Chloé doesn’t know that.  
  
“Uh-huh.”  
  
“You’re not even listening to me!”  
  
“Your voice carries, I heard you. Get to safety.” Chloé huffs loudly but stomps away.  
  
“The akuma’s in his right shoulder!” She yells.  
  
A butterfly mask appears where the blob’s face might be then the blob changes form into a tall, masked woman with long purple hair. “Well, well. It’s you. You’re the one who interrupted my fun yesterday.”  
  
“What the hell are you?”  
  
“I believe you mean _who_ the hell are you?”  
  
“Whatever, Lady. I’m not here for a grammar lesson.”  
  
The woman tsks, “you clearly must be a child with such a temperament, and that why children should be seen and not heard.” She takes an exaggerated bow, “Madame Papillion, à votre service.”  
  
“Why did you akumatize this kid?”  
  
“Why does anyone do anything, Little Lizard? For the satisfaction of knowing! My akumas let the city know the selfish and weak-willed among them! People would sell out their family just for a sprinkle of power. All I have to do is provide the means to obtain it.”  
  
It’s just like Longg told her. Is this kwami being used against their will or are they cool with it? “You’re getting a sick kick out of causing all this chaos!”  
  
“Exactly! Aw, and here I thought you wouldn’t get it. Ooh. Speaking of get? Now that I know there’s another Miraculous in the city, I’m gonna have to take it from you. I don’t know what it does yet but I’ll learn.”  
  
“Nah. I don’t think so.”  
  
“Wasn’t a request.” The woman turns back into the blob. Chloé said the akuma was in the right shoulder and Marinette has no reason to suspect the blonde is lying. After all, she seemed almost genuinely concerned over the akumatization’s well-being.  
  
Video game and comic book knowledge tells her throwing a punch at a blob is a bad idea so she lets her sword, and by extension her body, crystallize into ice.  
  
“All I want is friends!” The blob shrieks charging at her.  
  
“I’m sure there are better ways than this!” Standing her ground, the blob splits itself in two then slithers around her body rushing toward the students who start running away screaming. Stunned, Marinette stares blankly in front of her, “I-Hm... I was not expecting that.” With a sigh, she resheathes her sword then runs after the blob.  
  
The blob continues to separate itself and the miniature pieces just start climbing on students turning them into full-size blobs.  
  
Looking on, Marinette puts her hands on her head. Alya’s right, _she absolutely should not have to do this alone_!  
  
Chasing after every blob is pointless but they all look the same and she’s lost track of the original. She’s gotta hit them all at once. If she can control elements, she’s gonna have to recall all her knowledge of Storm. Which is easy considering that’s her favorite superhero ever. (And how fitting she’d get similar powers.) There’s one element that comes to mind when thinking about hitting multiple targets in one go.  
  
Marinette unsheathes her sword and raises it in the air. She calls forth lightning and the skies darkening. Her sword crackles to life. Marinette looks over her shoulder spotting the blobs approaching from all sides.  
  
The blobs dogpile her and merge into one giant blob. Her sword lets out one EMP that causes the giant blob to explode. Scattering pieces of itself all over the sidewalk and the school. Chloé, who for some reason was unaffected by the blob and was hiding by the staircase, got showered with blob pieces. “This is so gross!” She wails. (And if Marinette got some minuscule satisfaction watching that, well that’s really no one’s business but hers.)  
  
The blob begins to slowly reform itself around a purplish-black butterfly. “Oh no you don’t.” Marinette runs at the butterfly with her sword and electrocutes it. There’s a bright red glow coming from the butterfly before it explodes.  
  
Marinette shields her eyes from the glare and this unnatural feeling _wind_ just blows through her.  
  
When she cracks an eye open, all the students and staff of François Düpont are sprawled out on the courtyard and the gross blob bits that covered her from head to toe are gone. (Wait. Damn, did he get _everybody_ except Chloé?)  
  
Longg’s gonna have to explain some stuff to her. Nevertheless, she resheathes her sword and steps over some of the groaning bodies so she can slip away to change back to Marinette.  
  
“ _Wait_!” Chloé runs over to her, “I guess you’re not _so_ bad. You saved Adrikins, although you probably could’ve done it less violently. And I really could’ve done without the blob bits everywhere—”  
  
“Is there a point to you stopping me?”  
  
“I—” The blonde clears her throat, “I-I...” She scowls, “m-mer—” Marinette just stares raising an eyebrow, which her mask is probably covering. The blonde stomps her foot. “Y-You know what I’m trying to say!”  
  
“Do I?”  
  
Chloé lets out an exaggerated groan, “ _m-m-merci_ , okay? I appreciate having Adrikins back.”  
  
“You’re welcome.”  
  
Chloé blushes, “r-right, well... as you were. Go do... dragon things or whatever.” The dragon dashes off. Chloé watches them go then clears her throat again looking around then steps over a few bodies before making it to Adrien. “Adrikins, are you okay?”  
  
Adrien blinks, staring up at the sky, then sits up gasping. “Chloé! I’m sorry. I was mad but I shouldn’t’ve said—”  
  
“We’re good, Adrikins. Like I said our bond is revered by our peers. It’s utterly ridiculous you’d think something like this would affect our friendship. And it’ll hardly be the last time either of us pisses the other off.”  
  
“ _S-Still_ —”

“Shut up, Adrikins.” She kisses him on the forehead. “Now get up. Your clothes are starting to wrinkle.”


	2. you have some bite in those sharp teeth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Chloé's birthday, what could go wrong?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: First of all I'd like to thank BenRG for giving me an idea I've implemented in this chapter/the story overall.
> 
> Now then... I don’t believe I’ve specified it in the last chapter but I’m making Marinette tall. Not Kim or Ivan tall but taller than most of the class. *edit* I’ve also made Kagami short, just slightly taller than Mylène, but shorter than Rose. I hadn't realized completely forgot to mention the resident shortest class members Alix and Max, who Kagami is just a tad bit shorter than.
> 
> I was reading something and I had no idea Clara Nightingale was a teenager? Whether that is the case or not, she’s 16 in this story.
> 
> I’m giving Marlena orange hair like Alya.
> 
> Originally, the secondary/temporary holders were Nino, Luka, Max, and I forgot the last one but then I was thinking: 'why did they need male characters to show up when the girls couldn’t handle something?' Needless to say, I changed the secondary holders.
> 
> One more thing, it’s not coming up in this chapter but I’m changing the rooster’s Miraculous. I believe – according to the wiki – that it was a thumb ring?
> 
> One last thing I edited, I changed Émilie's surname to her maiden name. (Tomoe doesn't know or care so she calls her Agreste.)

“Don’t be bemused, it’s simply the news! Nadja Chamack here with _‘What’s The Question?’_ and the question on all of Paris’ mind is: who is this akuma busting Dragon we’ve seen in the past two days?”  
  
There’s an influx of pictures behind the burgundy haired woman each featuring a blurred image of the Dragon.  
  
“Where did they come from? Why didn’t they show up sooner? Are they really gonna get rid of _all_ the akumas around the city? But most importantly: **what’s their name**!? I can only think of so many Dragon related puns! _Oh_ —” She clears her throat, “but you can always tweet and text your name ideas to the studio!”  
  
Chloé holds up part of her hair and tries tying the top in a bun. She groans in frustration when the bun loosens. “Damn you Youtube! Jean-Jacques!”  
  
There’s a tentative knock at her door, “you called, Mlle. Chloé.”  
  
“That was quick. Get in here and help me with my hair.”  
  
Adrien, sprawled out on Chloé’s bed, flips through a magazine with his face on it, “two days ago you hated this Dragon and now you’re trying to do your hair like them?”  
  
“Her. Definitely a girl.” Adrien shrugs and keeps flipping through the magazine. Chloé’s butler enters the room and the blonde points to the television paused on the back of the Dragon’s head, “do my hair like that. I know papa has some elaborate surprise in place for me so that gives you time to get the style right.”  
  
“Why did we skip school again? Today was a half-day.”  
  
“Well I needed a full-day to get ready. Besides, who goes to school on their birthday?”  
  
Adrien hums, “you know... you never answered my question. About how quickly your feelings for this Dragon changed?”  
  
“Look, Adrikins, she saved your life. That’s why I don’t hate her... anymore. Plus, those gold eyes are alluring.”  
  
“You know she saved your life too, right?”  
  
“What she did was break my favorite pair of sunglasses. Did you see the replacements papa bought me? And he has the nerve to tell me to wear them today of all days? Ridiculous. Utterly ridi—”  
  
“ _You_ broke your sunglasses, Chlo, just like _I_ broke my bag strap.”  
  
“But if the weird red glow fixed up the school and turned everyone back to normal why did your stuff still break? I mean, wouldn’t it get fixed too?” She glances at Adrien through the mirror and he shrugs. “You’re the one that watches all those magic girl cartoons.”  
  
“Magic _al_ girl and they’re ani—” He shakes his head, “doesn’t matter.”  
  
“Pool all your magic knowledge together to think of an explanation.” Jean-Jacques pats her on the shoulder and she looks up at her hair. “Ooh. I love it! My hair looks just like hers! Adrikins, what do you think? Perfect, right?”  
  
“It’s cute.”  
  
Chloé beams. “Merci, Jean-Jacques. Now make sure it stays this way. And look for any dragon-themed clothing that can be delivered now. Preferably red.” The butler nods then swiftly exits the suite. “Adrikins, I have an idea and I need your help.”  
  
“What is it?”  
  
“If the Dragon only appears during akumatizations, I’m going to need an akumatization. It’ll be a birthday present to myself.”  
  
“A birthday present... to yourself, is an akumatization?”  
  
“A birthday present to myself is being swept up in those arms again.”  
  
🎊  
  
“No. Na-uh. Nope. La.”  
  
On the top half of her phone screen, Marinette brings her hands together in a pleading manner. “Come on Alya, we need you.” On the bottom half, Kagami nods in agreement.  
  
Principal Damocles initially refused to have her and Kagami swap classes, but when they went to school today he called them to his office and told them he changed his mind. He stated his reasoning yesterday was he wanted to keep the same number of students in the classes and taking them out without putting two people in would ruin that. His solution? Swap out kids from every quatrième class. However Damocles got there, he’s putting Alya and Kagami in Mme. Mendeleiev’s class effective tomorrow.  
  
All of this happened _after_ Chloé Bourgeois – who wasn’t even at school today – made an announcement, via loudspeaker, about her birthday party that would be televised live and that none of them were invited. (Alya suspected that might’ve been a reason the principal changed his mind.)  
  
It hadn’t clicked at first but Alya realized her mum _worked_ for that brat and her family.  
  
Alya, Marinette, and Kagami were set to try online playing one of Marinette’s games when Marinette’s parents informed her that they were catering for the Le Grand Paris party and that they could use Marinette’s help. If that weren’t bad enough, Kagami’s mum told her they got an invite and not going wasn’t an option. So for the past twenty minutes, the two of them have been trying to convince her to go with them with Kagami’s “plus one” invite.  
  
“Why should I go to this shit?”  
  
“Best friend code, Alya. When your besties need some additional support you gotta get in there and provide it!”  
  
Furrowing her eyebrow, Kagami flips through a book. “We will owe you a... ‘solid— ’” She air quotes with one hand, “—should you attend with us.”  
  
Alya stifles her laugh, “look, we get it. None of us _want_ to be there but we gotta so let’s all be miserable together? You wouldn’t want to miss out on that, would you?”  
  
Kagami drops her book, “and think of the hord... d-or... the tiny appetizers we can try. I can see...” She brings her pointer finger and thumb close together, “appetizers smaller than this costing over two-hundred euros.”  
  
“No way! That’s not expensive enough. It’ll definitely be over five-hundred.”  
  
“Alright. Fine. You twisted my arm. I’ll go to this damn thing so we can all be miserable together and make fun of overpriced food we’re definitely gonna stash in our purses and bring home.”  
  
“I hear that. I’m gonna bring a big purse with as many take away containers as I can fit in it.”  
  
“If that is the plan I’ll try to find some containers or foil paper. Maybe sandwich bags.”  
  
“Definitely the sandwich bags.” Alya and Marinette agree.  
  
“Good. Okay. We can do this. I don’t have a purse though.”  
  
“Don’t sweat it. I got purses coming out the wazoo. Ooh. Hold on. Let me show you some. Maybe since we’re on the phone we can compare outfits.”  
  
“We should. I read an article that said best friends always show one another their OOTD’s before a party.”  
  
Marinette and Alya stare at each other, “our _what_?” The latter asks.  
  
“OOTD. Outfit of the day. I can give you a link to the article.”  
  
“I’m gonna have to pass. I believe you.”  
  
Marinette disappears from the screen then reappears with an armful of purses. She drops them on her gaming chair. “What color do you need?”  
  
🎊  
  
Kagami and her mother, Tomoe, walk arm in arm into Le Grand Paris. Her mother’s probing cane stills and her grip around Kagami’s arm tightens. Before Kagami could question it, a balding blond white man approaches them. “Tsurugi-san, welcome.” He bows. “I’m André Bourgeois. Owner of the hotel.”  
  
“Why was my presence specifically requested for a child’s birthday party?”  
  
Kagami watches the man awkwardly rub at his throat. “W-Well, Tsurugi-san, I was hoping to take a minute of your time to talk to you about a proposition?”  
  
“And you needed all this fanfare to do so?”  
  
“You’re a notoriously hard woman to track down. To be honest, I wasn’t even certain if you’d attend my daughter’s birthday party.”  
  
“I hear it’s going to be televised, and who can pass up free press?”  
  
Clearing his throat, the man nods. “S-Shall we?”  
  
Kagami taps on her mother’s arm, the woman leans in her daughter’s direction and then Kagami tiptoes to whisper in her mother’s ear. “I suppose.” She releases Kagami’s arm then offers it to the man. “It better be worth my time.”  
  
The man gulps, “o-of course, Tsurugi-san.”  
  
“And what of my daughter? Are you simply going to leave her there?”  
  
“N-No! I’ll...” He frantically looks around, “ _ah_! Couffaine!” A boy with green hair and teal tips approaches the man. “Please show uh...” The man stares at Kagami who raises an eyebrow. Ah. Did all the research and intel on Tomoe but forgot her daughter. Typical. “Please show... Tsurugi-san around then escort her to the banquet hall.” The guy nods then the man laughs awkwardly as he walks with Tomoe.  
  
The guy shrugs, “wanna get this over with?”  
  
“Might as well.”  
  
He jerks his thumb behind him, “this way. Name’s Luka.”  
  
“Kagami.”  
  
Luka gives her a tour of the ground floor (Kagami could swear she saw a _flamingo_ trot by), giving her random trivia about the hotel along the way. When they get to the _second_ kitchen, Kagami sees Marinette. And she isn’t the only one, judging by the soft, surprised _oh_ that comes out of Luka’s mouth.  
  
“I knew that outfit was the right choice.” They gave one another feedback in helping choose their outfits. Marinette _made_ not only the caterer outfit she’s wearing but all the purses she showed them earlier. Kagami is wearing a grey button-up blouse with black dress pants. For Alya, she settled on wearing a peach sweater dress. They had to talk her out of the full-on formal mermaid dress she was gonna wear so she could outshine the birthday girl. Marinette hands her a grey purse and holds her hands, “you look so cute.”  
  
“I owe it to you. You’re a fantastic designer.” Marinette blushes and Kagami realizes her hair is down.  
  
“ _Oh_. Um. Who is this?”  
  
Luka is still standing there stunned. It’s only when Kagami ~~tiptoes~~ waves a hand in front of his face that he snaps back to reality. “S-Sorry. I was just... that outfit is—you’re really pretty.” Marinette blinks at him and he clears his throat, “I-That was supposed to stay in my head. I-I’m Luka.” He waves awkwardly.  
  
“Marinette, and merci. You’re... really pretty too.” She smiles at him and Luka clenches and unclenches his hands several times until he settles on just stuffing them in his pockets. “Kagami, you gotta see the croquembouche tower my parents made. It looks like Chloé’s face!” She lets go out one of Kagami’s hands to grab one of Luka’s. “Come on.”  
  
The croquembouche tower does, indeed, look like Chloé’s face. They even dusted the top of the eyes with her signature sky blue eyeshadow.  
  
In addition to that, there was a macaron sculpture that looked like Chloé with one arm in the air in a cheer.  
  
Kagami was a little surprised there wasn’t an ice sculpture of the blonde. They did have an ice sculpture, but it was of a giant lizard.  
  
“What is the progress here people?” A tall blonde woman walks into the kitchen with a cellphone in her hand. She’s wearing an all-white jumpsuit (which probably isn’t the smartest of moves – but then again chefs wear white jackets in a kitchen all the time). She pauses to stare at the three of them, "I know _you_...” She gestures to Luka, “but why are two little girls in the kitchen?”  
  
“I’m showing them around, Mayor Bourgeois.”  
  
“For what purpose?”  
  
“The boss said so.”  
  
The woman looks them both up and down with a neutral expression and raises an eyebrow, “just keep them out of the way.” Then she briskly walks past them.  
  
“Definitely Chloé’s maman.” Marinette and Kagami mutter.  
  
Luka and Kagami help Marinette help her parents set up the food. They also meet Alya’s mama who both of Marinette’s parents gushed over. She has orange hair slightly darker than her daughter and it’s all tied in a bun.  
  
During the gushing session, Kagami and Marinette get a text from Alya who is on her way.  
  
“I appreciate you two looking after Alya.” Marlena tells them, hugging them both.  
  
It’s like time moves in slow motion when Alya walks into the hotel. She’s wearing the sweater dress but she also has her hair in a high ponytail and large gold hoop earrings and a black belt around her waist that matches her black lipstick and black purse with gold straps. _Oh_ and she’s wearing black thigh-high heel boots.  
  
“Damn.” Luka says.  
  
When she walks over to the three of them she does a little twirl, “well?” She has black eyeshadow on too.  
  
“Alya, you look amazing!” Marinette squeals hugging her. “We need pictures.”  
  
“I brought makeup we could wear. Might as well make the most of things, right?” She adjusts her glasses and Kagami realizes she’s wearing different, _gold_ frames rather than her usual black ones.  
  
“I think you would’ve been less likely to show up the birthday girl with the first dress.”  
  
Alya laughs then points at Luka. “Who’s that?”  
  
Marinette and Kagami turn to Luka who rubs the back of his neck as he waves.  
  
Luka escorts them to the bathroom so they can put on some of Alya’s makeup. Marinette puts on baby pink eyeshadow and lipstick and Kagami applies orange lipstick.  
  
Kagami grimaces in the mirror, “should I choose another color?”  
  
“I like orange but I’m biased.”  
  
“No way. I like the orange on you.”  
  
“We’re your best friends, Kagami, we’d never let you go anywhere looking anything less than perfect. Close your eyes.” Alya puts a bit of orange eyeshadow on the Kagami’s eyelid. “Not that we need to do much because you are one bad bitch.”  
  
“Back at you.”  
  
“I like that all your lipsticks and eyeshadows match.”  
  
“Girl, the struggle was real. I had to buy them in sets because I just used to pick stuff up that didn’t have a match and had to try and look around for anything close enough. Done.”  
  
Kagami opens her eyes and looks back in the mirror, tenderly touching around her eyes. When she moves her hand there’s orange powder on her fingertips.  
  
“Ooh. You rubbed off some of the blush.” Marinette states, “you know, I never understood the purpose of blush.”  
  
“Neither do I.” They both squint at Kagami’s face. “Can’t even tell it’s there.”  
  
“Maybe that’s the point? And it’s not like it’s hiding her freckles which are really, really adorable.”  
  
“You have freckles too.”  
  
“Yeah... but they’re not as cute as Kagami’s.” Alya fondly shakes her head.  
  
They exit the bathroom and Luka’s leaning against the wall. He pushes himself off and bows, “shall we continue, Mademoiselles?” The three of them hook their arms together and nod.  
  
🎊  
  
Being fashionably late to Chloé’s party wasn’t an option, but at the same time Lila didn’t want to get there too early. Because of Chloé’s tantrum on Monday, Mme. Bustier put Marinette at her seat yesterday and today claiming she’s working on a seating arrangement that would benefit everyone. Never mind Chloé wasn’t even in the building today, meaning Marinette could’ve more than sat at the empty desk. The brunette had to roll her eyes at that woman. She wouldn’t be surprised if the teacher consulted Chloé on the seats. Oh well. As long as Lila wasn’t the one picked to sit by Chloé she could care less about who was the poor, unfortunate soul.

When she enters the hotel she sees Marinette arm in arm... in arm with two unfamiliar, pretty-as-all-fuck girls.  
  
Lila wasn’t able to dig up much information about Marinette herself but she found out quite a lot about the blue-haired teen’s parents. Marinette spent the first four-and-a-half years of her life in China, then the following four-and-a-half years in Italy, then there was a period of four years where they traveled between Europe and Asia before coming here. Marinette’s parents, Tom & Sabine, worked in damn near every boulangerie and pâtissèrie they’ve come across. But Lila doesn’t know why they all of a sudden got their own brick and mortar. Probably got tired of not calling the shots.  
  
Lila could empathize. Before she came here last year, she was the HBIC in all her old schools. Never took long to begin her reign. Her mamma was a travel agent before she became a diplomat so Lila got to travel the world with her mamma, picking up plenty of fancy trinkets she could come up with elaborate backstories for. Lila’s not... entirely sure how she came to such a drastic career change. Her mamma seemed more than happy with her job; plus, she was studying to get her pilot’s license. If her mamma had _half_ the drive Marinette’s parents did, she could get the damn license instead of waffling around making excuses.  
  
Lila sighs. She’s grateful the only thing she got from her mamma was her looks.  
  
Upon arriving at François Düpont last year, Lila charmed her schoolmates – naturally – but she wasn’t that whispered name on everyone’s lips. No, that honor went to someone else. As soon as she heard about Chloé Bourgeois, Lila decided to do her homework. An objectively pretty brat who used her parents’ influence to get what she wanted...?  
  
Lila could work with that.

They say there’s no such thing as bad publicity. Even if all people talked about was how awful Chloé was, they were still always talking about Chloé.

Within her first week of school, Lila charmed Chloé to get in her inner circle. Little compliments about her designer outfits and makeup. Half-true stories about their similar lifestyles. Flat out lies about celebrities she knew in Italy. Pretending to be interested in Chloé’s interests but not so much that her ass-kissing was obvious.  
  
Chloé wasn’t a conventionally dumb blonde but she was a stereotypically vain one so Lila had to out-lie her rather than outwit her.  
  
At first, Chloé’s best friend and apparent watchdog was suspicious of her. Lila thought she’d have to get rid of her but Sabrina eventually warmed up to her.  
  
Then there was Adrien. The first word that came to mind when Lila met him was: cute. She could have fun with him.  
  
Then she got to know him. He was a wallflower... but he was pretty so maybe that term didn’t match.  
  
Either way, he was like a doormat when it came to Chloé. No. That was wrong. He was just an all-around doormat. Whenever the group had trouble deciding on something whatever Chloé selected, she claimed Adrien would agree with her putting the decision in her favor. Hell, Chloé did pretty much everything but flat out insult him and he just ...let her.  
  
Lila’s surprised it took him fourteen years of knowing her to snap and get akumatized.  
  
Cute as he was, she wasn’t interested. And, to be honest, he just wasn’t interest _ing_. He ruined her perfect two week long family image of being Liliana Rossi-Agreste. No. That wasn’t happening. _Although_ , having a rich husband who would do whatever you want without complaint isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Nah. She moved on.  
  
Félix I Have So Many Last Names To Cover My Inferiority Complex and Lila butted heads immediately upon meeting. Félix was an asshole and not even the fun kind either! _Plus_ , he looked scarily similar to Adrien and that... that was something she wasn’t gonna touch. _But_ Félix and Adrien’s mammas are identical twins so...  
  
Nope. Not him either.  
  
 ~~But she will say the Agrestes and Vanderwhatevers could make some pretty kids.~~  
  
Aurore... now there was someone Lila genuinely considered a friend. Apparently, she and the blonde were of similar mind when it came to Chloé. However, Aurore’s parents pretty much made her become Chloé’s friend because they were all rich and white and blonde. Lila doesn’t know the specifics. But Aurore wasn’t in their class so Lila got to complain to her about Chloé when Chloé wasn’t around.  
  
Sabrina had the meek girl-next-door vibe going on but she did have more of a backbone than Adrien. Unfortunately, that meant Chloé was twice as quick to lose her already short temper with Sabrina compared to Adrien. The other day wasn’t the first time Lila saw Sabrina ~~correctly~~ argue her point to Chloé. (Lila definitely needs some info on the origins of their friendship because it can’t be as simple as police chief and mayor in the same room shoving their kids together.)  
  
Lila briefly thought about getting with _Chloé_ when she realized the blonde was into girls but she could not in good conscience imagine a life with the blonde. No matter how powerful Chloé could become.  
  
It sometimes takes every ounce of willpower she possesses to get through the day being a fucking toadie. **Every time** her named was mentioned it was always _After Chloé’s_.  
  
This was so not how she expected her life to go!  
  
Before she could give up and consider all hope lost, Marinette Dupain-Cheng swooped in François Düpont like a fucking shining knight with a flaming sword riding on a griffin. She talked back to Chloé. **She got the blonde akumatized**.  
  
There was no way Lila wasn’t gonna be friends – and possibly more – with someone who had the chops to gun for the school’s Queen Bee _unknowingly_.  
  
Marinette probably hadn’t seen Lila hanging around Chloé so she could use that to her advantage. And if she _had_ , it was nothing Lila couldn’t fix. Her nonna always used to say she’s nothing if not resourceful.  
  
 _Oh_! Speaking of dear sweet old nonna, Marinette was half-Italian. What better reason could there be to get acquainted with a fellow Italian? Of course this meant Lila would have to learn Chinese quickly. It took her two weeks to become ~~mostly~~ fluent in French and a month to have full-on discussions without slipping in Italian ~~swears~~ words.  
  
If Chloé had any questions concerning Lila’s shift in loyalty, Lila could always claim she’s trying to get to know the blue-haired teen so Chloé can take her down. “Keep your enemies close;” That sort of thing.  
  
Chloé doesn’t have to know _everything_ that goes on in Lila’s life.  
  
The elevator guy greets her unlocking the penthouse button with his key. She returns the greeting, thanks him, then gets in the elevator. The last thing she sees before the doors clothes is Marinette’s laughing face.  
  
When the elevator door opens Lila looks around the floor in confusion.  
  
There are red dragon printed _everything_ just sprawled out in the hall.  
  
She walks over to a dress on a mannequin and feels the material for a nanosecond before someone slaps her hand away. “No! No touching. It’s for Mlle. Chloé’s hands only.”  
  
“Right.” Lila rubs her hand. “Got it.” She doesn’t bother knocking on the partially opened door before she saunters inside. “Chloé, what the hell?” The blonde has her hair in twin buns that Sabrina and Chloé’s butler, Jean-Whosit, are sticking hairpins in.  
  
“She’s become obsessed with that Dragon.” Aurore, lounging on a chaise – a safe distance from the chaos, replies.  
  
“What Dragon?”  
  
“The one who broke her akumatization two days ago then Adrien’s yesterday?”  
  
“Ah!” Lila nods in understanding. She looks down at her black and white striped romper. “I feel underdressed.” Aurore, in a yellow skater dress, shrugs.  
  
“ _There_ you are!” Chloé sighs motioning for her to come closer. Aurore subtly shakes her head but Lila has no choice. She plasters on her best smile for Chloé’s eyes only then marches toward the blonde. “How attached are you to your hairstyle?”  
  
The smile slips off her face as Lila blinks at her. “What?”  
  
🎊  
  
“This is Alec Cataldi live from Le Grand Paris! In case you hadn’t marked this day on your calendars it’s Wednesday, January 8th! Why is today so important? We—” He squints at the camera, “we have every reason to celebrate the birthday of Paris’ own local debutante Chloé Bourgeois! What? I skipped a line?” He scans the teleprompter behind the camera. “Isn’t that what I—? Oh. And you want me to...? Really? Well, this is live. Okay then.” He clears his throat. “This is Alec Cataldi _live_ from Le Grand Paris! In case you hadn’t marked this day on your calendars, today is Wednesday, January 8th! Why is this day so important? You may be wondering? Well, you really shouldn’t be wondering! Today is Chloé Bourgeois’ birthday and we have every reason to celebrate the birth of Paris’ own local debutante~” He blinks, smiles, then gives the camera a thumbs up. The camera pans out and there’s a smiling brunette on Alec’s left, “and I’m here with another local teen celebrity Clara Nightingale! Clara, what do you think about the party?”  
  
The brunette’s eyes quickly dart from side to side and her expression goes blank. “The party started?”  
  
They both turn to the camera, eyebrows furrowing.  
  
The camera cuts to Aurore in another part of the hotel adjusting the hem of her dress. Her head snaps up toward the camera, “huh? _I’m_ on? _Oh_!” The blonde clears her throat, “your local weather girl Aurore Beauréal here live from Le Grand Paris and the weather forecast for Chloé Bourgeois’ party is gonna be hot.” She winks at the camera. “Everyone who is anyone is in attendance! And as a close, personal friend of Chloé Bourgeois I can tell the city is in for a real treat getting an exclusive look into this birthday bash~”  
  
Fù had just come back from a grocery trip to see costumed individuals running around the lobby with brightly colored animals, balloons of a blonde girl, large cloches, and dragon origami. Thankfully, he was short enough to be able to walk under the three people carrying a croquembouche tower to make his way to the elevator.  
  
Although his primary objective is introducing Wayzz to their partner, he’s hoping Longg will introduce their partner to him first.  
  
As the elevator door opens three laughing girls exit. Last to exit, the blue-haired, brown-eyed girl holds the door open for him so he can get inside. As he thanks her he feels Longg’s energy, but he doesn’t know which one it’s coming from. “Do you need help with your bags, Monsieur?” The bespectacled, orange-haired girl asks.  
  
He hoists the bags in his hands. “That would be a great help. Merci.” Each of them take one of his bags and get back in the elevator. Fù, hands now empty, hits the third-floor button. “Are you three friends with the young lady this party is for?”  
  
The three of them exchange glances then the orange-haired girl scoffs, “nah man. They’re here because of their parents and I’m here because of the best friends code.” Fù nods with a hum.  
  
Longg pokes their head out of the blue-haired, blue-grey eyed girl’s purse. The girl doesn’t even look as she gently stuffs Longg’s head back inside.  
  
Out of the elevator, they follow Fù to his hotel room. Fù sincerely hopes the kwamis aren’t just casually loafing around the suite. He swipes the keycard then they follow him inside.  
  
The girl set his bags on the table. “Merci beaucoup. I appreciate you taking time out of your day to help an old man.”  
  
“Don’t sweat it.” The blue-grey eyed girl replies.  
  
“We’re better book it if we’re gonna go through every floor.” The orange-haired girl says, the others nod.  
  
“B-Before you go, might I have your names? In case we ever meet again.”  
  
“Uh, okay. I’m Alya.” Says the orange-haired girl.  
  
“Marinette.” Replies the one with Longg.  
  
“Kagami.” Answers the blue-haired, brown-eyed girl who looks at him suspiciously. “What’s your name?”  
  
“Me? I’m Fù.”  
  
“Take care M. Fù.” They say as they leave the hotel room.  
  
Once the door is closed and looked the kwamis come out of the other room, “Master!” Wayzz beams, “my Chosen! That girl with the grey shirt is my Chosen. Shall I go to her?”  
  
“No, Wayzz, not yet.”  
  
“But I thought—”  
  
“We need to talk to Longg first.” Tikki interrupts.  
  
Fù nods, “exactly.”  
  
🎊  
  
“ _A clown_!?” André winces, both from the scolding and the pitch of his wife’s voice, “you got Zoé a clown!? She turned fourteen, André, not _four_!” Audrey folds her arms over her chest, “utterly ridiculous!”  
  
“Pumpkin, I had to do something last minute. A lot of celebrities and acts didn’t reply to their RSVPs! Then there were those who replied they wouldn’t perform for Chloé if it were her dying wish.”  
  
Audrey grimaces, “so your only option was a clown?” André shrugs his reply, “what about music? I saw Clara Nightingale with Cataldi.”  
  
“She is here, yes. Though, to be honest, I suspect the only reason she came is because she’s too nice to refuse.” Audrey runs both hands down her face, “ _but_ XY is also here! Though he said if he wasn’t the main act he wasn’t gonna perform.”  
  
“This is a disaster.”  
  
“Not quite. Clara Nightingale and XY are Chloé’s favorite musicians!”  
  
Audrey rolls her eyes as she walks into conference room number two with André trailing behind. “My husband and I appreciate you coming.” Clara Nightingale, Bob Fucking Roth, Some kid Audrey suspects must be this “XY” she’s never heard of, and the clown wearing black and white. This only type of party this is, is a goddamn pity party.  
  
“Anything for little Zoé, am I right?” Roth says throwing finger guns her way. “Though fourteen isn’t really _little_ —”  
  
“Listen you old fuck, you even _breathe_ near my daughter talking like that and I will end you.” Roth holds up his hands in surrender. Audrey turns to the brunette, “Mlle. Nightingale, how do you feel about being the opening act for...” She takes a deep breath, “XY?”  
  
The blond... – who, oh God he even _looks_ like Roth – waggles his eyebrows. Clara turns to him then turns back to Audrey, far less chipper than usual. “As long as I don’t have to be near him, I’m fine with that.”  
  
“You.” Audrey points at the clown, “you don’t look like a very funny clown. Why are you so monochrome? Do you tell jokes or make balloon animals?”  
  
“Uh...” Clara raises a hand, “Mayor Bourgeois? M. Haprèle is a mime, not a clown.”  
  
“Oh, you’ve got to be fucking kidding me!” Audrey turns to her husband.  
  
“I’ll fix it. I’ll fix it!” He runs out of the room. Audrey takes a deep breath massaging her temples.  
  
“If entertainment is the problem. Just let me keep singing all party long. I guarantee—”  
  
“No. I don’t know anything about you. I’m not gonna let you ruin this party.”  
  
Scoffing, XY folds his arms over his chest muttering under his breath.  
  
“What do you got to lose by honoring his request?”  
  
“Don’t you fucking—”  
  
The conference room door opens and XY gasps, “sounds like you could use a hand.”  
  
“Émilie. Thank God you’re here!”  
  
The blonde walks in the room greeting Audrey with a hug and cheek kiss. “Did you think I’d miss my goddaughter’s birthday?”  
  
“Y-Y-You’re Émilie Graham de Vanily!”  
  
She smiles at XY, “I am. And you are?”  
  
“Xavier-Yver Roth, Mme. Graham de Vanily. But everyone calls me XY.”  
  
“I can understand why.” Audrey mutters. She turns to Émilie. “Did you bump into André?”  
  
“No. Why?”  
  
“No reason. How can you help with ...this?”  
  
“I can call in a few favors? Get some people to stop by?”  
  
“No. Once they find out why they’ll refuse or make a scene and I will not embarrass my only child on live television. Even if it’s just locally broadcast.” Audrey checks her phone, “Mlle. Nightingale, you’re up. Zoé should be heading to the banquet hall. You’ll sing happy birthday to her.”  
  
“I can do that.” As Audrey walks off, Émilie grabs Clara’s arm as the brunette gets up.  
  
“Her name is _Chloé_.” She points at everyone in the room, “the birthday girl’s name is **Chloé**. Understood?” Everyone nods. “Good.” Then she lets go of Clara and leaves.  
  
🎊  
  
“Girl, what’s wrong?”  
  
“I-I dropped something from my purse.”  
  
“Do you need us to help you look for it?”  
  
Marinette strains a smile, “that’ll be—” The lights dim.  
  
The banquet hall doors open and a spotlight shines on Chloé, in a gold halter neck dress, is being carried inside as she sits on a gold chair. The blonde blows exaggerated kisses to her left and right.  
  
“Damn, that poor girl is delusional...” Alya mutters shaking her head.  
  
“Joyeux anniversaire~” Clara Nightingale sings. The crowd in the banquet hall collectively loses their shit as another door opens revealing the brunette in an all-white neon cat mask with three people behind her also in similar yet colored differently neon cat masks. Chloé’s eyes light up as Clara lifts her mask over her eyes as the others continue to sing as they get closer.  
  
Kagami has to scratch her head as she looks around, she elbows Alya. “Why is everyone losing their minds?”  
  
“You’ve never heard of Clara Nightingale?” Marinette whispers. Kagami shakes her head.  
  
“Girl, we’ll hook you up later. Fact.” Marinette nods in agreement. “But I am curious about the cats with her.”  
  
Once Clara’s done singing, she holds up a hand and the crowd instantly quiets. “Merci beaucoup! No birthday party will be complete without a surprise guest. Or three. I couldn’t think of a better surprise for the birthday girl than introducing her to a few good friends of mine. Everyone please join me in giving a big hand to Kitty Section!” The crowd cheers as the trio in the cat masks wave. “They’re gonna perform their very first single for the birthday girl.” Clara slips the mask back over her face. “ _Hit it!_ ”  
  
The shortest one with the pink and black cat mask does the countdown before she starts wailing on the microphone amping the crowd again.  
  
Alya has her phone out recording the performance.  
  
Marinette discreetly tries looking in her purse for Longg. How could she have lost them!? Or did Longg leave her on purpose? There is no tiny magical dragon in her purse and she even sewed a little secret compartment for them away from the containers she brought.  
  
When the lights return to normal and the performance ends, Marinette snaps her purse shut. She’ll have to look for Longg later. Hopefully, she won’t need them now.  
  
Chloé gets up from her chair applauding, thanking Kitty Section and Clara.  
  
“No way.” Alya lowers her phone. Marinette and Kagami turn to her, “her dress has little dragons on it.” Alya scrolls back a few pictures on her phone then zooms in on Chloé’s dress that does have darker gold dragons on it.  
  
“You don’t think...” Marinette sucks in a breath, “it’s because of the Dragon from a few days ago, do you?” Oh where is Longg when she needs them?  
  
“A reasonable conclusion.” Kagami confirms, “they did save her life twice. In two days.”  
  
“Didn’t she get her best friend akumatized or something?”  
  
“And I got her akumatized the day before that.” Marinette grimaces. Alya and Kagami both stare at her. “Did I... not tell you that?”  
  
The next thing Marinette knows she’s being ushered out of the banquet hall, Kagami grabbing one arm and Alya grabbing the other.  
  
They head to the elevator after the cop stares at them the second they exited the banquet hall. “Marinette Bǎo Dupain-Cheng, you so did not tell us that.” Alya begins (and Marinette regrets telling Alya her middle name). “You told us you told her off about a seat but not that it led to her being akumatized.”  
  
“It’s our fault for not assuming that.”  
  
“Yeah well assuming makes an ass out of you and me. I saw the akumatization but I didn’t know you were involved. What happened? Were you safe? Did she hurt you? Do we gotta kick her ass?”  
  
“I guess the chair thing really got to her. The Dragon got me to safety. I mostly hurt myself running out of her way. Don’t kick her ass on her birthday.” Alya sighs in relief.  
  
Kagami hums. “Then that means you were close enough to get a good look at them?”  
  
“I... really wasn’t paying much attention.”  
  
The elevator light flickers then an alarm goes off and the elevator jerks to a stop. Kagami hits the third-floor button and her eyes narrow when it doesn’t light up. “This cannot be happening. I cannot be locked in an elevator.” She starts hitting buttons at random.  
  
Alya eyes her. “Are you claustrophobic?”  
  
“Extremely.”  
  
“Deep breaths, Kagami. We’re here.” Marinette flinches slightly as she feels a familiar jolt in her side, but she keeps rubbing Kagami’s shoulders. “Let’s see if our phones work.”  
  
“In a hotel this damn expensive they’d damn well better have the best damn cellphone reception.” Alya takes out her phone, “mine’s good. Let me call my ma.” The elevator lights go out and Alya’s phone dies. “Well, shit.”  
  
“Oh no. This... this is not good. I’m like two seconds away from an anxiety attack.” Marinette begins to pace as much as she can in the enclosed space and Kagami slumps to the floor and starts hyperventilating.  
  
“You both can’t start freaking out because it’ll make me freak out too!”  
  
There’s a bright red glow coming from inside the elevator before the door pries itself open. “ _Quickly_.” A voice calls out. Fortunately, the elevator stopped just below a floor so Alya and Marinette are able to pick up Kagami and get out of the elevator.  
  
“Did we just get saved by the Dragon?” Alya asks looking around, “what floor is this?” She gets up, then Marinette does, and together they help up Kagami. “Kagami, how are you feeling?”  
  
Kagami’s breathing slowly begins to even out.  
  
Marinette looks around, “fourth floor. We need to find our parents.” They each rub one of Kagami’s shoulders.  
  
“I’m fine to move. Ari—Merci. It... It means a lot that you two assisted me through this.” All the years of having this fear, this... weakness, Kagami never broke down like that in front of her mother. What is it about these two that caused her to drop her defenses so quickly and naturally?  
  
“Best friend code.” Alya and Marinette reply hugging Kagami. It’s only been a few days since she’s met Marinette and months since she met Alya yet she feels like she’s known them much longer. In her previous schools, she’s been told, after a single conversation, she has a cold nature and because of that classmates generally avoided her.  
  
Kagami figured it would be the same here but Alya didn’t regard her as cold. It was just the opposite. Alya welcomed her with open arms. When they were both waiting in the principal’s office, Alya introduced herself. When Kagami took a while to answer or fumbled over Alya’s questions, the orange-haired teen was patient. Didn’t rush her. Never made fun of her. Was actively interested in her responses.  
  
It took less than ten minutes for Alya to declare Kagami as her best friend.  
  
They’ve been inseparable ever since.  
  
Kagami never had a best friend before and now she has two. When they separate from the hug, Kagami sees a green light down the hall. It... feels familiar. It makes her feel warm, or that could just be from the hug. She’s been getting a lot of those since she met Alya.  
  
“Alright!” Marinette points down the hall, “we’re taking the stairs. Let’s go find our parents.”  
  
After descending the stairs, Alya opens the door to the lobby and an inflatable tube air dancing things they have around the car dealerships charges in their direction and she shuts the door, “yeah, we’re gonna have a bit of trouble getting out of here.”  
  
“Then what do we do?”  
  
“Are you okay to stay in here?”  
  
“There’s... adequate space.” Kagami takes a deep breath, “still, I’d rather brave the chaos out there.”  
  
“I agree.” Marinette takes out her phone. She feels it _pulse_ before the screen lights up fresh from a restart. “My phone’s working.” Kagami and Alya take out their phones and frown when they don’t turn on.  
  
“What model is your phone?”  
  
“Uh—”  
  
Someone lets out a high pitched scream and Alya opens the door a crack. Marinette looks over Alya’s shoulder and Kagami squeezes under. “Huh. I hadn’t realized how much shorter I am than both of you.” They both look down at her, “but that’s a conversation for another time.”  
  
The wavy tube dancers are binding people and dragging them toward the banquet hall, and there’s a colorful clown floating in the air, “am I funny enough for you _now_ , Chloé Bourgeois?”  
  
“Chloé caused an akumatization.” The trio deadpan.  
  
“Papa, please!” There’s a girl with rainbow-colored dreadlocks walking _toward_ the akumatization as everyone else runs _away_ from it. “This isn’t you.”  
  
Marinette blinks and shakes her head because she could swear she sees some sort of black light coming from the girl.  
  
The akumatization floats down to the girl smiling, “dear sweet Mylène. Don’t worry! I’m an actor, I know how to adapt to _any_ situation.” He lifts his arm and balloons come from the ground lifting the girl up and form a chair surrounding her. “You’ll be safe there. I have to make a certain brat laugh.” He cackles floating toward the banquet hall, with the chair following after him.  
  
Marinette takes a deep breath as Alya closes the door again, “thankfully, the kitchens are in the opposite direction of the banquet hall. All we have to do is make a break for it.”  
  
“Not confident in my running skills, man. Gotta give you a heads up.”  
  
Marinette puts a hand on Alya’s shoulder, “you’ll do great.”  
  
As Alya opens the door fully an inflatable tube dancer man grabs her and flips her upside down. “Son of a bitch!” She screams as it carries her to the banquet hall.  
  
“ _Aly_ —”

Kagami slaps a hand over Marinette’s mouth bringing her back into the staircase as several more inflatable tube men scurry past. Kagami nudges the door closed, “it’s unfortunate and I don’t wanna leave her any more than you do but we can’t draw attention to ourselves and get captured too.” Marinette nods and Kagami releases her, “I don’t suppose you’ve ever clocked how fast you can run, have you?”  
  
“Wait, you have?”  
  
“The reason’s not important but yes. We’ll have to split up to draw less attention to ourselves and hope we don’t get caught. You go first and—”  
  
“Uh... you should go first.” She shakes her phone, “gonna see if I can contact my parents.”  
  
Kagami nods slowly, “good idea and good luck.” She pats Marinette on the shoulders ~~awkwardly~~ before opening the door wide and pressing herself against the wall. An inflatable tube man waves its arms in the doorway then when the arms disappears Kagami sprints off.  
  
“Damn, she’s fast.” Longg says flying out of Marinette’s purse.  
  
“You’ve got _a lot_ of explaining to do! You poked your head out of my purse when someone else—a few someone else’s were close by and could’ve easily seen you! _Then_ you pull a disappearing act with no explanation!” Marinette kicks the door closed trapping an inflatable tube man’s arms in the doorway. “You are making me sound like mā mā when bà ba does something foolish!”  
  
Longg holds out their hands in front of other body placatingly, “Calm down! I will explain everything to you in due time, Hatchling. For now there are a couple of words you need to say.”  
  
Marinette looks around, “no cameras... that’s good. A door. Even better. Longg, tip the scales!” She takes out the lip balm and applies some on her lips before the transformation can begin. Like the last two times her teeth sharpen and extend. She feels her hair tying itself into the chignon buns. _However_ , when she looks down at her hands she sees her nails starting to grow. And instead of arm bands her _skin_ turns scaly. “Please don’t tell me I’m turning into an actual dragon!?”  
  
Her nose begins to twitch and she can see it turning into a dragon’s snout. When the transformation ends, Marinette inspects the damage. There’s an in case of emergency glass case she checks her reflection in. “ _I turned into a dragon_!?” She howls.  
  
Marinette did notice her transformation yesterday was a bit more dragon-like than the one she first did on Monday.  
  
 _Oh_ and her suit is still there but it’s all gold now. (Thank goodness she’s not naked, dragon or no dragon.)  
  
“Longg, you and I are gonna have a nice long, long talk when this is over...” She mutters opening the door out the hotel.  
  
She couldn’t exactly come out of the staircase transformed in case she saw Kagami and had to explain a few things before she knew what the hell was going on herself, so she chose to leave the hotel entirely and enter through the front doors.  
  
The lobby is empty but there’s a loud crash then someone screams.  
  
Wait. Does she have _hair_ as a dragon? She pats her head and sure enough there is hair... or maybe fur? But it’s in the chignon buns.  
  
There will be time to worry about that later. Hopefully.  
  
She dashes to the main kitchen which is empty, then she checks the next kitchen which is also empty. Marinette quickly looks in every room on the ground floor and they’re all empty. Inside the banquet hall, however, is like a circus. The inflatable tube men are creepily waving their arms as they surround civilians. Chloé is trussed up on a rope like a pig over a flame... only the flames look like they’re made of balloons too. “My parents are so gonna fire you for this!”  
  
“Funny you should mention _fire_!” The clown laughs menacingly.  
  
“Papa, I know there has to be some good still in you.”  
  
“Oh will you shut up!? He’s obviously not getting it! _Just like his jokes aren’t getting any funnier_!”  
  
The clown hisses at her and Marinette rolls her eyes wondering why she has to save this girl for the third consecutive time for the third consecutive day.  
  
Chloé spots her and the blonde’s eyes light up. “You came!” She cheers then gasps. “Look out!” An inflatable tube man surges toward her then before it makes contact it explodes.  
  
 _Kagami_ is standing there with a bread knife in one hand – the one currently outstretched – and a cleaver in the other. Holy shit she’s a badass. It could very well be the lighting or the angle or whatever but it kinds looks like she’s _glowing_ from where she’s standing. Marinette stares dumbly because her cerebrum currently isn’t processing anything. “Are you alright?” Marinette can only nod.  
  
The clown floats over to them, “I’ll be taking that Miraculous, Little Dragonet.” The butterfly mask appears over his eyes then his eyes narrow, “eh... what is the Miraculous?”  
  
“My middle finger, asshole.”  
  
“Ooh, you have some bite in those sharp teeth. I love it!”  
  
“Why bother hiding behind your creations, Papillion?”  
  
“You have a Miraculous, you know how these powers work. Or maybe you don’t? Well, since you asked. I have the kwami of transmission.” The clown gestures to the mask, “pretty sure even you can figure out how it works. Ordinarily, I let them do whatever their heart desires but a certain annoyance is causing me to switch things up.”  
  
“Get used to it.”  
  
The clown’s eyes turn purple and the butterfly mask disappears.  
  
“Hey!” Chloé shouts wriggling against her bindings, “can you free me?”  
  
The clown lifts their arms in the air and balloons start growing from the ground forming into the inflatable tube men. What a bizarre form of minion.  
  
Marinette looks around, assessing her situation. Kagami is hacking her way through the rest of the tube men, ~~and she’s~~ ~~definitely~~ ~~not imagining the green glow coming from Kagami’s body.~~  
  
“Didn’t you hear me? Free me dammit!”  
  
Well, damn. This is... hm. Good thing clowns only mildly freak her out. Her parents and Alya’s mama are tied up but they’re tied together – at least she can keep an eye on all of them. She doesn’t know where Alya is though. Marinette unsheathes her sword and slices one of the inflatable tube men that tried to sneak behind Kagami.  
  
Kagami inclines her head. “Arigatou.”  
  
“Anytime. Just repaying you. I’m gonna need your help.”  
  
“Anything.”  
  
“Can you free Chloé?”  
  
“Anything but that?” Marinette raises an eyebrow. Well, she’s _pretty sure_ she still has eyebrows. Kagami sighs, “alright, fine.” Marinette looks down and realizes Kagami has a toolbelt full of kitchen knives. She expertly chucks a chef’s knife at the balloon string holding Chloé up. Marinette winces as the string snaps and Chloé falls on her face. Marinette sighs then turns to Kagami who shrugs. “You never specified how to free her.”  
  
“You’re right. That one is on me.”  
  
“I’ll take out the air dancers while you focus on the akumatization.”  
  
“‘Air dancers?’ Is _that_ what they’re called?” Kagami nods, “huh. Learn something new every day. Alright, we’ll go with your plan. Stay safe.” Kagami nods as she makes quick work of the inflatable air dancers.  
  
“Kagami?” Marinette hears her parents, “where’s Marinette? Did she get captured?”  
  
“I don’t know but we’ll find her.”  
  
“ _Help_! Mlle. Dragon, help!” A few tiny air dancers grab Chloé.  
  
“Oh for fuck’s sake.” Marinette slices them and Chloé practically climbs her.  
  
“I knew you’d come! I just knew it! I’m so glad to see you.... eh, well, I mean— I guess I’ll take what I can get.”  
  
“‘ _Knew_?’” Marinette pushes Chloé off her, “ _please_ don’t tell me you _purposely_ caused this akumatization?” The _look_ on Chloé’s causes Marinette’s eyes to widen. She looks up at the clown who is focusing his attention on creating more air dancers and sending them in Kagami’s direction.  
  
“Mlle. Dragon!” The girl with the rainbow hair waves from her balloon chair, “the akuma flew into the flower on his suit! Please help my papa!” Marinette’s wings extend before she soars up to the girl. The girl startles a bit then sits up scooting closer to Marinette, “I came to give Papa the flower he uses for his mime acts when that girl started complaining about—”  
  
“ _That girl_ has a name!”  
  
“ _That girl_ better zip it.” Chloé snaps her mouth shut and scowls, “go on.”  
  
“I—” The girl takes a deep breath, “the girl was complaining and... and I didn’t even see the akuma fly into the flower in my hand. I-I was almost akumatized but my papa took it from me. Took it for me.”  
  
“So you were gonna be akumatized.”  
  
“She had no right calling my papa talentless!”  
  
“How much talent could a _mime_ have?”  
  
Marinette floats down to Chloé, crouching on one knee in front of the blonde. “Listen very carefully because I will not say this again. If you _ever_ purposely cause another akumatization... hell, the next time you even cause an akumatization I will leave you to deal with it.”  
  
“What? Y-You can’t do that!”  
  
“The hell I can’t.”  
  
“B-But look around! I did all of this to see you again!”  
  
“Is that supposed to mean something? So you styled your hair like mine and paid someone to make an ice sculpture of me? I don’t care. I am not your personal on-call savior. And intentionally riling someone up just so I can show up to save your sorry ass makes you just as bad as Papillion.”  
  
“W-Wha—No. N-No it doesn’t.”  
  
“Oh it does. There are dozens of ways to flatter someone without causing an akumatization!” Marinette sheathes her sword then walks over to the clown.  
  
The clown floats down to her. “Are you here to give me—”  
  
Marinette grabs the flower from his lapel and shocks it in her fist. When she opens her hand, the charred butterfly turns to red dust. A purplish-black ooze covers the clown from head to toe until he transforms back into a mime. Then the air dancers disappear into puffs of red smoke.  
  
The balloon chair pops and the girl starts falling. Marinette flies over to her and catches her. “M-Merci.” She blushes as they touch the ground and Marinette releases her so she can run to her father and hug him. The mime nods at Marinette who returns the nod.  
  
The banquet hall cheers for her and Marinette takes a deep breath walking out the double doors.  
  
“Wait a minute!” A balding man holds his arms out in an attempt to block her from leaving. “Y-You saved my daughter again.”  
  
“Believe me, I truly regret it.”  
  
“H-How can you say something like that?!”  
  
“Ask her yourself.” Then she pushes the man out of the way.  
  
🎊  
  
When Marinette returns to the banquet hall as Marinette her parents, Alya, Marlena, and Kagami group hug her. “Where on earth were you!?” Sabine asks, hysterically.  
  
“I looked around the entire hotel!” Marinette facepalms, “once I saw the kitchens were empty I was looking any and everywhere. I never thought to check the banquet hall. Alya, are you alright? Y-You got captured and—”  
  
“Girl, I have never been better! I was hanging upside down the entire time!” _Wait_ , she was!? Marinette had no idea! That must be why she couldn’t find her among the crowd! “I’m a little lightheaded but I got some great footage! Totally worth it.”  
  
“Oh no it wasn’t.” Marlena puts her hands on her daughter’s shoulders, “we’re going home and getting you hydrated. Screw the rest of this fucking disaster of a party. It was nice meeting you all.” Alya truly is her mother’s daughter. Alya waves as her mother gently steers her out of the banquet hall.  
  
“That’s a good idea. Marinette, we’re going home too. Kagami, do you need help locating your mamma?”  
  
Kagami looks around, “I do, merci. But... the hotel isn’t fixed.” Marinette’s parents look around, “the last two times everything was fixed up after the akuma was destroyed.”  
  
“We don’t know anything about this Dragon.” Sabine says with a shrug, “but if she has power over what gets fixed when she destroys the akuma I can’t blame her for not letting this place get fixed.”  
  
Tomoe was in a conference room with a bespectacled blue-haired woman with red tips. One of the security guards directed the group to the room. “I heard there was another akuma attack just now. If my daughter was harmed in any manner of speaking there will be hell to pay.” The woman adjusts her glasses.  
  
“I’m fine, Kaasan.”  
  
Tomoe pushes out her chair and stands, using her probing cane to make her way to her daughter then grabs Kagami in a one-armed hug. “Good.” She turns to the blue-haired woman, “tell your bosses I’d rather be akumatized than do business with them. We’re going, Kagami.”  
  
“K-Kaasan—”  
  
“Hesitation? From _my daughter_?” Tomoe raises an eyebrow but her serious façade breaks with a slight smirk, “who is she?”  
  
“N-No. It’s not—” Kagami shakes her head and Marinette could swear she _flushes_ briefly. “I want to introduce you to my friend Marinette and her parents.”  
  
“They smell like bread and it’s making me hungry so please excuse me for being brief.”  
  
“We don’t blame you. We’re getting the hell out of here too.” They all start walking, exiting the hotel as news vans pull up. “I'm Tom and this is my wife Sabine. Your daughter saved us from the akumatization.”  
  
“With kitchen knives.” Sabine finishes. “We’d love to have you over and get to know you and Kagami better.”  
  
“That is acceptable. I am Tomoe Tsurugi. You seem better company than what I’ve had today. Kagami will give you my contact information.”  
  
When Marinette gets home she realizes she didn’t get to carry away any food in her containers. She makes herself a sandwich then trots up the stairs bidding her parents goodnight.  
  
Once she’s in her room, Longg flies out of her purse. Marinette points half her sandwich at Longg, “start talking.”  
  
Longg accepts the sandwich half and plops down on Marinette’s right shoulder. “Let us proceed with the Q & A.”  
  
“Why am I getting more dragon-like every time I transform?”  
  
“You aren’t. There are two forms to a transformation. A full-on humanoid hybrid and the kid in the kwami costume.”  
  
“I prefer the latter, if it’s all the same to you.”  
  
“Unfortunately, _I_ have no control over which transformation suits the situation.” Grumbling, Marinette stuffs her sandwich half in her mouth. “oh.” Longg chuckles, “I just made a pun. Suits and...” Marinette turns slightly raising an eyebrow and Longg clears their throat, “okay. When in your hybrid form – let’s just call it that – you’re physically stronger but your abilities are weaker. You’re also more susceptible to magic and damage.”  
  
“Sounds like a bad video game power-up. Makes me look cool but isn’t worth the effort.”  
  
“Quite the contrary. It worked quite well this afternoon.”  
  
“Only because I was facing off against balloons and the clown wasn’t really doing anything super dangerous. How often do your partners rely on the hybrid form?”  
  
“On average I’d say it was equal to them relying on the ‘masked’ form, we’ll call it. You can even change forms at will once you gain more experience. As far as today’s akumatization goes... it certainly was a strange one. Though I suppose not being the intended target had something to do with it.”  
  
“Or it could just be the guy? He must not have been interested in hurting anyone.”  
  
“Possibly. I’ve dealt with butterfly Miraculous wielders who assumed more control of their champions, for both good and evil. I don’t know Papillion’s angle. She has to be out for more than just chaos.”  
  
“Does she though?”  
  
“I mean, it would be unprecedented if she weren’t. Coming across a power of this magnitude and just using it to let people run wild with a fraction of that power?”  
  
“Does she get stronger with every akuma?”  
  
Longg grimaces, “every akumatization, yes. Though I _suppose_ just conjuring akumas could be strengthening her as well. You see, when an akuma affects a person it coats them in magic. Papillion absorbs that magic through the akuma to get stronger.”  
  
“Eww.”  
  
“I concur. I’m certain it’s even more disgusting to witness than say. Since Papillion’s been throwing out multiple akumatizations from day one she...” Longg sighs, “let’s just say if she applied all that power to a single akumatization she’d be near unstoppable.”  
  
“‘Near unstoppable.’” Marinette repeats, “she’d also have to put in effort to controlling the akumatization.”  
  
“Correct. Here’s hoping she doesn’t have the bee Miraculous as well.”  
  
“What’s the bee do?”  
  
“The bee Miraculous is the Miraculous of subjugation.” Marinette whistles, “and kwamis can fuse together. Imagine having total control of an akumatization with minimal effort? All you do is send a bee after them and—” Longg brings their hands together loudly.  
  
“To hell with _near_ , she would be unstoppable.” Longg nods. “Do you know where the bee is?”  
  
“I have no clue. The Master was training to be the Keeper of the Miraculouses. To have sole knowledge of every Miraculous in existence before he left the temple.”  
  
“Just one person to keep track of a thousand Miraculouses?”  
  
“It’s how it has been for millennia. Guardians experience longevity and live thrice as long as a normal human’s lifespan. They also receive an additional magical ability upon their initiation. Master has not shared what his ability is.”  
  
“Right. How do I fuse powers?”  
  
“Simply say both transformation phrases, one after the other, then bring your hands together and say unify. Simple. I must caution you, it takes a ridiculous amount of magic and occasionally steals you life essence. At your present state, you will die should you introduce your body to another kwami’s magic.”  
  
“Not even fusing? Just using another kwami?”  
  
Longg nods. “you and I are destined to be together, as a result I don’t steal your life force or give you any adverse reactions to my magic. With you being so new at this, a kwami who isn’t compatible with you could kill you just by being near you.”  
  
“If giving me dragon bits is a good thing, I’d hate to hear the bad.”  
  
“Well, the most common ‘bad thing’ is death. There have also been records of accelerated aging, loss of faculties, paralysis, severe causes of paranoia, memory loss, loss of vision, third-degree burns—”  
  
“Okay, okay. I get it. It’s bad.”  
  
“Real bad. As I said there are a thousand kwamis, which means a thousand holders. _However_ , not every kwami is with their intended holder. Miraculouses get stolen. Miraculouses get sold. Previous holders die and their kwami partner waits in limbo as the soul gets reincarnated. Sometimes kwamis choose the wrong family member because the aura is so close.”  
  
“Is Papillion the butterfly’s true Chosen?”  
  
“Yes. I sense no misuse or forced bonding from the akumatizations. You’d be able to tell from the kwami’s magic if they are with their Chosen. Well, you’d be able to tell with time and experience. Kwamis can sense one another so we can sense if our brethren are being misused. The butterfly kwami is not my cluster so I don’t know much about them, personally, but we have been on the same side and opposing sides before.”  
  
“Am I getting stronger with every use of my powers?”  
  
Longg rubs the back of their neck, “you know... it’s hard to tell, actually. I mean, you started off out the gate strong. It’s never happened to me before.”  
  
“ _Never_?”  
  
“Never. In my entire existence. You might also be exhibiting magical properties.”  
  
“You’re kidding.”  
  
“Making your phone work in the staircase? Your affinity for electricity caused that.”  
  
“I had only used it twice then! I also used ice twice. Am I gonna start conjuring ice out of nowhere too?”  
  
“Unfortunately, my only reply is ‘to wait and see.’ If you have no other questions, allow me to answer your questions from earlier, at the party.” Marinette nods. “I disappeared to see the master. It’s also why I poked my head out in the elevator.”

“Because you sensed the Master? The one who indirectly gave me the Miraculous?”  
  
“The only reason Master Fù indirectly gave you the Miraculous was because you were in danger. Kwamis may lack the ability to predict the future but I’d bet my fifth fang you would not have been able to stay hidden much longer had I not come along.”  
  
Marinette hums, “hold on. Did you say Master _Fu_? As in the old- _er_ gentleman that we helped in the hotel?” Longg nods. “What did you talk about?”  
  
“You. Your two ‘besties’ are fellow Miraculous holders and honestly, I wasn’t expecting three of you to even meet so suddenly let alone as quickly as you have. The badass with the knives is the turtle and I find that quite hilariously ironic.”  
  
“Why’s that?”  
  
“Wayzz is the kwami of protection. Their weapon is a shield and their primary ability is bubbling.”  
  
“That’s not really ironic. Kagami protected _everyone_ in the banquet hall today. Me included.”  
  
“Good point.”  
  
“However...” Marinette lolls her head from side to side, “I’m not cool with my claustrophobic best friend bubbling herself.”  
  
“Another good point. The bubbling is mainly used in the defenses of others rather than the one who casts the bubbling.”  
  
“I have tons of other questions now.”  
  
“Lay it on me. Let’s see if we can get them answered.”  
  
🎊  
  
Kagami accepts the video call before grabbing the pull-up bar, “Kagami?” With both Alya and Marinette on the phone, the screen is split in two but they’re side by side. They both tilt their heads to the left as Kagami does a pull-up. “Oh damn. Should we call back?”  
  
“No. I can hear you just fine. Are you both alright?”  
  
“I kinda was but now I’m seriously distracted.” Marinette was about to say something but just laughs instead. “Seriously! I forgot what I was gonna say!” Marinette laughs harder. “I was like what’s up Kagami then I saw her arms and my mind vacated the premises.” Kagami chuckles, “we should work out together. Nora teaches self-defense classes at the community center. Well, that piece of info was for Marinette since you already know that.”  
  
“Another piece of information solely for Marinette is my mama also teaches at the community center.”  
  
Marinette sobers up, “seriously? Sign me up! And sign me up for the work out sessions too. I gotta make a cute yet functional outfit. Oh! Why I called. I was thinking of making us friendship bracelets. I know it’s old school but—”  
  
“ _Yes_!” Kagami and Alya interrupt, nodding.  
  
Marinette laughs, “okay. Text me your favorite colors and if you have any specific requests.” She tilts the phone sideways and shows a small sketchpad with a pink circle and inside it are a seashell, a bobbin, a paper lantern, a cookie, a book, a game controller, and a heart.  
  
“That’s so damn cute. Ooh.” Alya disappears from the screen briefly and returns with a notebook. “I’m not as good an artist but here goes nothing...” She starts scribbling on the notebook.  
  
Kagami drops from her pull-up bar and grabs her phone. “I shall attempt to sketch the contents of my friendship bracelet as well. But I’m curious, are they supposed to be different? I’ve done research and the bracelets I’ve seen were all identical.”  
  
Alya looks up from her notebook then does a double-take, “I... was wholly unprepared for those shoulders.” Kagami looks down at herself. She’s wearing a black sports bra and a pair of orchid colored sweatpants; she hardly expected her state of dress to elicit this kind of reaction.  
  
“I’m a little lost because of the headband pushing your hair out of face. You should wear your hair out of your face more! You look so cute!”  
  
“Is that a Starchy sports bra? Is it comfortable?”  
  
“Sports bras aren’t supposed to be comfortable.”  
  
Alya shakes her head, “oh you poor thing.” Marinette glances in Kagami’s direction and Kagami nods. “Uh... but we got a little off-topic there. I, uh, I don’t think friendship bracelets are supposed to be exactly identical. They have to feature something identical so people on the outside, not that it’s any of their damn business, can identify them. But, again, none of their damn business. What are we gonna put in common by the way?”  
  
“I guess it depends?” Marinette shrugs, “and I don’t really know how many things to add. I’ve never made friendship bracelets before. I was looking up bracelets when it just hit me.”  
  
Tomoe knocks on the door as she enters the bedroom, “Kagami—”  
  
“Turn us around.” Kagami complies with a chuckle. “Bonsoir, Mme. Tsurugi!” Marinette and Alya greet.  
  
“You certainly have selected a pair of lively best friends. Bonsoir to you both. I await having lunch with you and your parents, Marinette.”  
  
“I’m looking forward to it too, Mme. Tsurugi.”  
  
“And how are you, Alya?”  
  
“I’m good. My ma has me on bedrest. I wouldn’t be surprised if she was camped outside my room—”  
  
There’s a knock on Alya’s wall, “ _I am_.” Alya busts out laughing, “bonsoir, Tomoe!”  
  
“Bonsoir Marlena, there’s a matter I wish to speak with you about.”  
  
“Of course. My phone’s always on. You want me to call you?”  
  
“I’ll call you. Kagami, we don’t have to worry about dinner. Gabriel and Émilie Agreste have provided us with dinner as an apology for wasting my time.”  
  
“No offense...” Marinette begins, “but you trust it?”  
  
“No offense taken. I share your cautiousness. The Agrestes certainly have not given me any reason to trust them, especially with their sudden charity. They’ve been trying to get me to teach their son and nephew fencing for years.”  
  
“What’s to stop them from coming to your classes at the community center?” Alya asks.  
  
Tomoe chuckles. “Nothing, though I doubt they’d think about doing something like that.” She holds her arm out and Kagami takes it. “I suspect it’s an array of Japanese food cooked incorrectly. Thoughts?”  
  
“Tiny plates of French delicacies.”  
  
“It’s gonna be a Japanese and French fusion!” Marinette and Alya exclaim simultaneously.  
  
Tomoe hums, “I would not have thought of that. Quick thinking pair they are. I approve of your friends.”  
  
“We’ll let you eat. Text us what it is. Bonne nuit, Kagami.”  
  
“Bonne nuit, Girl, catch you at school tomorrow.”  
  
“Bonne nuit.” Kagami hangs up the phone and chuckles.  
  
“I meant what I said. I approve of your choice in friends. I even approve if either of them should be anything more.”  
  
“I—arigatou, Kaasan.”  
  
Tomoe nods, “let’s see what this ‘treat’ is.”  
  
As it turns out, her best friends were right. The food the Agrestes gave them was a four-course Japanese-French fusion.  
  
The food was passable but it didn’t remind either of them of home. It also wasn’t poisoned or tampered with so there was that.  
  
After dinner was daily kendo training; though Tomoe let her freestyle after hearing about her taking down the magic air dancers single-handedly with kitchen knives. Tomoe doesn’t do dual wielding but she said she’d support Kagami should she choose to pursue it in addition to continuing with her current training.  
  
Contrarily to popular belief, Tomoe hadn’t forced Kagami into learning how to fence. Kagami’s grandmother was a world-renowned, legendary kendo master but Tomoe found herself in fencing. Kagami decided, what the hell, and attempted to learn both. From the two most important, influential people in her life. And as her grandmother passed last year as they were leaving Marseille, Kagami was glad she decided to do both. Even though it’s been hella difficult to find someone to train under.  
  
She’ll ~~probably~~ never achieve the level her grandmother did but she’ll honor her by doing the damn best she can.  
  
Tomoe bids her goodnight as she retires for the evening and Kagami returns to her room. She flicks the light switch but the light doesn’t turn on. “What the...?” There’s a crash and Kagami takes her phone out of her pocket and opens the flashlight and shines it around her room until it lands on a floating green thing rubbing its head.  
  
“Ow...” The thing gasps then looks around, “oh no. Did I lose it?” Kagami slowly steps toward the thing who somehow has not realized her presence. Once she gets within touching distance, she pokes the back of its head. It flinches before turning to her wide-eyed. “Y-You startled me. Konnichiwa, Chosen.” It bows its head and, dammit, Kagami instinctively bows back. “One second.” The thing flies around the room then _phases through the wall_.  
  
Kagami’s jaw drops slightly then the thing returns, _by phasing back through the wall_ , with a pink swiss army knife.  
  
“What are you?” Kagami nearly drops her phone when the thing drops the swiss army knife – thankfully closed – into her hand.  
  
“I am a kwami.”  
  
“And that’s supposed to explain something?”  
  
“Uh... I suppose in layman’s terms what I am is an ancient genderfluid magical being bestowed with the power of protection. A power I will share with you. I am called Wayzz.”  
  
“Why are you giving me your power?”  
  
“I’m not giving it to you, I’m sharing it.”  
  
“Whatever. Semantics don’t matter. Why are you doing it?”  
  
“You were destined for it.”  
  
“Bullshit. My destiny is my own.”  
  
Wayzz nods taking off the necklace around their neck placing it on the swiss army knife, “a sentiment I agree with, as a matter of fact. _You_ control your destiny, Chosen, but destiny isn’t the endgame. It’s the journey. My only intention is to help you fulfill your destiny however I can. I believe my Miraculous will come in handy a great deal.”  
  
Kagami picks up the necklace—scratch that, bracelet—with trapezoid green pendants surrounding it, examining it before realization hits. “‘Miraculous?’” Wayzz nods. She stares at the bracelet, almost revering it. “I know nothing is impossible but this...” She shakes her head holding the bracelet toward Wayzz, “you made a mistake.”  
  
Wayzz _laughs_ , “have I? Let’s test that theory.” They slot the bracelet over Kagami’s left hand letting it fall to her wrist, “the swiss army knife is my Miracle Box and your communicator. You can use it to get in contact with your team and the Master. B-But let’s hold off on contacting the Master, I didn’t exactly get his permission to come to you.” Kagami stares at the bracelet on her wrist before raising an eyebrow at Wayzz. “I’m getting to how to use the Miraculous.” They sigh. “To transform simply say, while wearing the bracelet, Wayzz – defense shield.”  
  
“Defense shield?” The bracelet jingles then the pendants come together and form a hexagon and _Wayzz flies into the pendant_. Kagami’s body starts glowing green. It’s the same warm green feeling from earlier.  
  
A green bodysuit slowly envelopes her body from her feet to her head.  
  
Knee-high dark green boots – no heels (she sighs in relief), a bodysuit with a hexagonal pattern; a shield the same dark green as her boots, arm warmers, and fingerless gloves.  
  
Her hair magically spikes upward, turns green, and gets shorter. Not that it matters because a hood slots itself over her head. She gets dark green hexagonal goggles.  
  
Kagami opens her camera app and puts the camera facing her. She has green lipstick. Green nail polish. She lifts the goggles off her green eyes.  
  
She looks down at her outfit. “How do I... take this off?”


	3. Fēngbào

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [Inserts ominous noises] The class switch is in effect

When Lila walks into the classroom, Mme. Mendeleiev spits her coffee out at her tablet, “you’ve got to be kidding me!” She slams her thermos onto the desk, “damn you, Damocles.”  
  
Lila strolls up to the desk, “what’s wrong, Madame?”  
  
“You’ll see.” Mendeleiev takes off her glasses and pinches the bridge of her nose, “have a seat.”  
  
Lila takes a seat in the farthest seat on the right in the front row, angling her body slightly so she can see the door.  
  
Sabrina is the first – technically the second – to enter the classroom. She gives Lila a curious look before heading toward the brunette, “why are you sitting here?”  
  
“I sprained my ankle at the party yesterday running away from those wavy air balloon... thingies. Hurts to go up stairs.”  
  
“That sucks. Hope you feel better.”  
  
“Grazie, Sabrina. You’re such a sweetheart.” Sabrina smiles at her then trots up the stairs.  
  
Lila turns back to the door. A bunch of unfamiliar kids walk in the room and make a beeline for the back. Not the very back because Sabrina has her backpack on the chair to her right. Unlike Mme. Bustier’s classroom, Sabrina and Chloé sit together here. Chloé claimed the back desk on the right side of the classroom where at Bustier’s class she’s on the left. Well, she’ll have to see what Mme. Bustier does about the seats.  
  
A really tall pretty girl – about as tall as Marinette – with long purple hair with highlights that are a brighter purple, hoists her bag over her shoulder as she skulks into the classroom. When she looks up – probably seeing most of the seats in the back are filled – she frown then takes a seat in the third row on the right side of the room.  
  
Some more students, familiar this time, start filing out the rest of the seats past the third row.  
  
 _Adrien_ walks into the classroom looking around. When his eyes land on Lila, the brunette smiles and waves. Lila’s hardly expecting him to take the seat next to her. “What are you doing here?”  
  
“I got an email from Principal Damocles saying I’m in Mme. Mendeleiev’s homeroom now.”  
  
 _Ah_. That must be what pissed the teacher off. Damocles must’ve changed the whole class roster around after Chloé’s bitchfit. “When did you get this email?”  
  
“This morning.”  
  
“You know Chloé’s gonna want you to sit next to her.” Adrien shrugs.  
  
Out the corner of Lila’s eye she sees a tiny girl with rainbow hair scurry inside the classroom and take the closest seat to the door. Then she looks around the classroom quickly before returning her attention to the front of the class.  
  
Marinette walks backwards into the classroom holding an orange-haired, bespectacled girl’s hand. Lila recognizes the girl. She’s the same one from the party and _damn_ she’s even hotter up close. Both girls stop in front of the rainbow-haired girl. “Bonjour.” She looks up at them, “Would it bother you if I sat here?” Lila sees the girl shake her head. “Merci.” Marinette and the orange-haired girl keep holding hands even though they’re in different rows. “I’m Marinette and this is Alya.”  
  
Alya puts her bag on the seat next to her, “I saw you at the party yesterday.”  
  
Chloé bursts in the classroom nearly knocking over the kid that came in before her. She looks around the classroom and when her eyes land on the rainbow-haired girl, the blonde growls stomping toward her. “ _You_!” She hisses. “ _You’re_ responsible for this, aren’t you? Because of your talentless piece of shit papa!” Before anyone can reply, Chloé all but shoves her phone – that has a red flaming dragon on the phone case – in front of the girl and Marinette.  
  
Alya puts her hands over her mouth when she sees the footage she recorded playing on Chloé’s phone. Which should be impossible because she hadn’t uploaded it anywhere. All she did was show it to Marinette in the courtyard a few minutes ago. She knows she wasn’t the only one recording the akuma attack but it’s absolutely her footage because it’s at an angle above the doorway. When she was dangling in the air dancers’ (Kagami told her last night that’s what it was called) grasp she started recording. [Not like she had much else she could do.] She was the only person that high in the air... aside from the rainbow-haired girl in the balloon chair, but the other girl didn’t have a phone out. _And_ they were at opposite ends of the banquet hall.  
  
“—next time you even cause an akumatization I will leave you to deal with it.”  
  
“Y-You can’t do that!”  
  
“The hell I can’t!”  
  
“B-But look around!” Video Chloé explains on her knees gesturing around the banquet hall, “I did all of this to see you again!”  
  
“Is that supposed to mean something?” The Video Dragon replies, off camera. “So you styled your hair like mine and paid someone to make an ice sculpture of me? I don’t care. I am not your personal on-call savior. And intentionally riling someone up just so I can show up to save your sorry ass makes you just as bad as Papillion.”  
  
Alya whistles lowly as the camera zooms in on Chloé’s hurt expression. She hadn’t noticed that when she looked at the video earlier. (She also hadn’t noticed how crisp the sound was.) “W-Wha—No. N-No it doesn’t.”  
  
“Oh it does. There are dozens of ways to flatter someone without causing an akumatization!”  
  
Then the video cuts off and shows Nadja Chamack somber expression, “that’s right, Paris, you heard it here first live. An anonymous tip this morning told us that newly turned fourteen-year-old Chlolétte Aurélie Bourgeois _intentionally_ caused the akumatization of actor and teacher’s assistant Fred Haprèle yesterday at her birthday party, but it doesn’t stop there. The video reveals right from Fred’s fourteen-year-old daughter, Mylène, that the akuma was originally gunning for _her—_ ” The rainbow-haired girl gasps loudly, “—when her papa heroically and probably _figuratively_ , possibly literally, threw himself in front of the akuma, protecting his daughter from being akumatized. This makes Mlle. Haprèle Mlle. Bourgeois’ intended victim but for what purpose? Why was she selected specifically?”  
  
Alec Cataldi, on Nadja’s left, laughs as he shakes his head, “wouldn’t be surprised if she selected Mlle. Haprèle at random. I wouldn’t even be surprised if Mlle. Haprèle wasn’t the first—or even the _tenth_ person Chloé Bourgeois tried to get a rise out of yesterday.” Nadja sighs shaking her head. “As serious as this situation is, I’d like to point out that I’m a huge fan of this Dragon. For a number of reasons. I mean... well we all saw the footage, right? Come on! How could someone not be? I’ll agree with Mlle. Bourgeois on that one point. Who wouldn’t wanna be saved by them?”  
  
“ _I’d_ like to point out I’m a bigger fan of— go back to the last screen. No, no, no. Not. Wait. _There_.” The camera pauses on Kagami’s back holding the knives. “This girl is truly the unsung hero of yesterday’s akuma attack.”  
  
“Absolutely! Any information on this girl would be greatly appreciated. Those were kitchen knives, right?” Nadja nods enthusiastically. “And I know the akuma’s minions were balloons but _still_. Absolutely incredible.”  
  
“Agreed. I was there in person and I saw it in real time. It _was_ incredible. There really aren’t words.”  
  
“You saw it?”  
  
“I know I’m a news reporter but I have no idea why I didn’t think of recording it.” She sighs shaking her head. “It was absolutely one of those things you had to see to believe.”  
  
“You aren’t the only one kicking yourself about not thinking to record it. Thankfully, someone managed to get some decent footage. I’m digging the aerial point of view too. Anyway, there is no legal reprimand for causing an akumatization and let’s face it. Even if there were, with her maman as mayor I doubt she’d get any. Furthermore, I’m sure Chloé Bourgeois has caused more than just that one akumatization yesterday. Remember your akumatization, Nadja?”  
  
“No.”  
  
“Not the first one. I’m talking about the one before New Years Eve.” The burgundy-haired woman lowers her head and groans. “See? Proof! And we can tell the viewers to send in their causes for akumatizations, excluding the ones in the beginning, and I can guarantee you’ll see a lot Bourgeois’ as the reason. Not to mention the akumatization two days ago was Adrien Agreste and sources say that Adrien Agreste was akumatized after a conversation he had with Mlle. Bourgeois. If she can get her alleged best friend and the city’s local ball of sunshine akumatized then the next day deliberately put Paris through a premeditated akumatization for her own selfish reasons. She truly is worse than Mme. Papillion.”  
  
“And let’s not forget Mlle. Bourgeois herself was akumatized three days ago.”  
  
Alec sucks in a breath, “oof. Can’t forget about that one. Although, no one seems to know how it happened.”  
  
“How what _oh_...” Nadja taps her chin, “you’re right. Curious. That’s something we’ll have to look into. Now we know the Dragon appeared because of Mlle. Bourgeois’ akumatization, with its currently unknown cause, but based on their attitude toward her, we can surmise the arrival was purely coincidental.”  
  
“If you need any reason to be a fan of this akuma busting Dragon. I have the perfect one. They aren’t a fan of Chloé Bourgeois!”  
  
Chloé slams her phone down on the desk then takes deep breath, “did you think it was a wise decision making a fool of me, Mini Mime? You can kiss your papa’s sad ass career goodbye!”  
  
“Bourgeois—” Chloé looks over her shoulder at Mendeleiev pointing at the door, “to Damocles’ office.” The blonde opens her mouth, “ _now_.” Chloé balls up her fists, “and just a reminder: you get akumatized or cause one nobody is coming to save you.” The blonde’s nostrils flare as she storms out the classroom.  
  
“Is it okay if I touch you?” The rainbow-haired girl flinches then nods and Marinette rubs her shoulders. “Mme. Mendeleiev? Can I take... um.. what’s your name?”  
  
“M-Mylène.”  
  
“Gotcha. Can I take Mylène to the nurse?”  
  
Mendeleiev nods, “go ahead.”  
  
Marinette and Mylène leave the classroom the same time Kagami walks in. “I’ll tell you about it later.” Marinette says as she heads down the hall.  
  
Alya slides over and Kagami joins her at the desk. “It’s been one hell of a morning and school hasn’t even officially started yet.”  
  
🤺  
  
“No one who values their job would humiliate me so it has to be someone with nothing to lose.”  
  
Audrey nods, cleaning her cuticles. “Agreed.” Looks like she’s gonna need to make a nail appointment soon. She was anticipating the video call from her daughter the minute she saw that video surface, “what about the girl you were having trouble with Monday?”  
  
“What about her? I doubt she could’ve gotten into my party.”  
  
“Cassidy, you didn’t exactly bar off the doors to the hotel. Any of the riffraff could’ve slunk in.” The fourteen-year-old frowns, “we’ll talk to your papa about increasing the hotel’s security. In the meantime, give me the girl’s name.”  
  
“I don’t know her name, Audrey. Lila takes care of that.” Audrey hums with a nod, “what’s with the face, Audrey?”  
  
“No face. Simply... processing what you’re telling me.” Audrey clicks her tongue, “have your friend give me the entire class roster. We don’t want to overlook anyone while we take care of this mishap.”  
  
“While you’re looking for people to fire or whatever, you should look into firing Alec Cataldi. Someone might’ve sent the video but he’s the one who... who...” The blonde growls.  
  
“Calm down, Cristal. I’ll look into getting rid of Cataldi but I doubt it’ll be easy. TVi keeps him around because he’s not afraid to shy from the truth. The masses will riot if he’s gone. Furthermore, they’ll know we were involved if he’s suddenly replaced.”  
  
“Then why not get him on our side?”  
  
“Not a bad idea. It’ll be difficult but not impossible. I hear Cataldi has a high price.”  
  
“You mean someone is _paying him_ to be biased _against us_?”  
  
“It’s very likely.” Audrey sighs.  
  
“Who has that kind of money?”  
  
“That’s something else I’ll have to look into.” Audrey sighs again, “has my daughter ‘learned her lesson?’ Can she return to class now Principal Damocles?”  
  
“O-Of course, Mayor Bourgeois. I’ll talk to Mme. Mendeleiev.”  
  
“See to it that you do. How can she complain about my daughter’s education if she isn’t in class to learn?” Damocles nods. “Bye Darling. We’ll get manipedis at lunch. Love you.”  
  
“Love you too, Audrey.”  
  
Audrey hangs up the phone then leans back in her chair looking at the ceiling, “Alec Cataldi. Alec Cataldi. Nooroo Dear, refresh my memory, has Alec Cataldi ever been akumatized?” The small purple butterfly sitting on her desk looks up at her then tilts their head to the right.  
  
“I do not believe so, Mme. Audrey.”  
  
“Let’s fix that. Nooroo, let’s fly.” The butterfly nods flying into the oval lavender brooch on Audrey’s shirt collar. Her hair begins to magically grow and turn purple. She stands as her clothes turn into a grey pants suit with a purple inner shirt. She picks up the mask slotted against her waist and puts it on her face. Next she puts on her purple heels and purple boots. Fully transformed, Audrey walks toward the window and opens it. She holds out her right hand and creates an akuma, “be a dear and find Alec Cataldi but don’t akumatize him, yet.” She flexes her fingers and the akuma multiples, then she blows at her hand toward the window and the akumas flap away. Once the akumas are in the sky, she closes the window then walks back over to her seat. “Nooroo, let’s land.” The transformation drops and Audrey sits back in her chair, “now we wait. Are you hungry?”  
  
“I could eat. But, Mme. Audrey, why aren’t we akumatizing this Alec Cataldi now?”  
  
“Patience, Nooroo Dear. He hasn’t done anything to akumatize him over. Aside from the fact that he humiliated my one and only daughter publicly, which I will not let stand, but I can’t akumatize Cataldi based of _my_ anger. He’s gonna have to drop that cheerful façade sooner or late and when he does, I’ll be ready.”  
  
“We can always try and see if one can be akumatized with overwhelming positive emotions?”  
  
Audrey taps her chin, “I suppose we could give it a shot.”  
  
🤺  
  
When Chloé returns to the classroom, everyone watches the blonde until she takes her seat beside Sabrina folding her arms over her chest glaring in front of her.  
  
Marinette had returned from taking Mylène to the nurse’s office several minutes ago. The rainbow-haired teen caught an asthma attack on top of her panic attack so the nurse was looking over her.  
  
In the timeframe Marinette wasn’t in the classroom, Alya filled Kagami in to the goings-ons.  
  
Alya suggested they check on Mylène once class ended; Kagami and Marinette agreed.  
  
Alya yawns as Mme. Mendeleiev starts going over stuff she and Kagami already learned when they were in Mme. Bustier’s homeroom. She brought it to Mme. Mendeleiev’s attention and the teacher’s response was to blame the principal. (Alya has to wonder how the other classes will be.) As the orange-haired teen cracks her neck, lolling it from side to side, she sees Adrien just flat out, unabashedly staring at Kagami.  
  
Alya nudges the girl next to her. Kagami leans forward, “heads up, Agreste is here and he’s looking this way.” Alya whispers. Kagami starts to turn in that direction but Alya turns her back, “don’t _look_.”  
  
“Why did you inform me of his staring if you did not want me to stop him from looking over here?” Kagami whispers back.  
  
“Be—because...” Alya’s eyebrows furrow, “damn you got a point.”  
  
“M. Agreste, is there something interesting about the back of the classroom?”  
  
Blushing, Adrien turns toward Mme. Mendeleiev, “n-no. There’s...” He frowns then sits up straight. “S-Sorry, Madame.” The brunette beside him giggles.  
  
When the door opens, Marinette, Alya, and Kagami do a double take as an Adrien duplicate in glasses wearing a navy three-piece bespoke suit walks in the classroom adjusting his lapels as he looks around. He walks over to the teacher’s desk with determination and an envelope.  
  
The class nosily _and noisily_ tries to get a good look at the newcomer as Mendeleiev accepts the envelope and opens it.  
  
The Adrien double is standing there with his hands behind his back in parade rest. Alya nudges Kagami in a _get a load of this guy_ manner and Kagami nods in agreement.  
  
One Agreste is a bad enough. ~~If this one shows an interest in Kagami too, Alya might have to break something over his head.~~ Speaking of Agreste, Alya glances at the blond who has a frown on his face. For a professional model, who has his face plastered all over every available flat surface in the city (and some circular ones), the guy kinda wears his heart on his sleeve. Probably why the majority of things his face is featured on has him smiling.  
  
Mendeleiev sighs loudly putting the sheet of paper back in the envelope then returns the envelope to the blond. “Take an empty seat wherever.” Nodding, the blond turns to his classmates surveying the room. He walks up the one stair before approaching Marinette.  
  
“Bonjour, Mademoiselle, is this seat taken?”  
  
“Yup.”  
  
“Our friend’s in the nurse’s office.” Alya adds, smiling sweetly; Kagami, on the other hand, raises an eyebrow as she folds her arms over her chest.  
  
The blond nods, and Alya doesn’t miss him looking them over, before he ascends the staircase and takes the formerly empty desk behind them.  
  
Alya puts some hair behind her ear and sees the blond staring at Kagami out the corner of her eye. She puts her head on Kagami’s shoulder. Sure, Kagami is shorter than her by several centimeters but she’d bear a lot more than a crick in her neck for her girls.  
  
Mendeleiev hands Marinette a stack of worksheets then she walks over to Adrien and hands him the same worksheets. While the brunette takes the stack from Adrien passing them over her shoulder, Marinette fully turns toward her best friends handing them the stack. Both Kagami’s and Alya’s eyes roll upward and Marinette nods before turning back around in her seat.  
  
After a quick loss at rock-paper-scissors, Alya lifts her head then turns slightly to hand the worksheets back. The blond brushes his fingers against hers as he takes the stack and thanks her.  
  
Oh boy. This is gonna be a long class period.  
  
Damocles walks in the classroom. “Mme. Mendeleiev, a word?” The teacher’s eyes narrow but she follows Damocles out of the classroom, telling them to look over their worksheet.  
  
“Crap.” Marinette mutters, “forgot to get a worksheet for Mylène!” She spares a glance at the back of the classroom. Sabrina is set to pass the worksheets ahead to the redhead in front of her when Chloé grabs her hand and the stack of worksheets.  
  
“Not yet, Sabrina. Mme. Mendeleiev didn’t ask for them.” She smirks at Marinette then props her feet up on her desk, “you want a worksheet for that rat so badly, come get it.”  
  
Marinette stands then Alya and Kagami stand too. “The odds don’t seem to be in your favor, Bourgeois. I suggest you back off.”  
  
Chloé’s right eye twitches before she composes herself, “I’m not scared of you, Tsurugi.”  
  
“Really?” Alya muses, nudging Kagami. “Care to test that theory?” All Kagami does is move from behind the desk and Chloé flails back in her seat sending the extra worksheets flying. Alya catches a worksheet and hands it to Marinette, “look pretty scared to me.” Then the three of them sit down. The class applauds until Sabrina picks Chloé up from the floor.  
  
The blonde points a finger at Kagami. “I’ll bet it was you that sent the video to TVi!”  
  
“Oh believe me.” Kagami turns back to her, smirking. Everyone in between the two ducks. “I wish I had the pleasure.”  
  
Chloé snarls. “My parents can ruin yours!”  
  
“Then let them try.”  
  
The class _oohs_ , heads playing ping-pong between Kagami and Chloé glaring at each other.  
  
Mme. Mendeleiev comes back in the classroom looking twice as tired than she left and she wasn’t even gone for five minutes. “What’s with all the papers?”  
  
“Chloé did it!” A pink-haired girl exclaims pointing at the blonde.  
  
Mendeleiev glances up at Chloé who points at Kagami, “she made me! Then she threatened me!”  
  
“That’s bullshit, you threatened her first!”  
  
“Like hell I did!”  
  
“Shut up!” Mendeleiev exclaims. “Kim, what the hell happened?”  
  
“Well...” The tall boy in the row in front of Chloé, next to the pink-haired girl, begins. “The cute girl with the twintails said she needed an extra worksheet for the rainbow-haired girl Chloé threatened. Then Chloé stopped Sabrina from handing the worksheets to the front of the class and told Twintails to come get it. So then Twintails, Orange-Hair, and Knives got up and Chloé said she wasn’t afraid of Knives then Knives moved to probably take the worksheets from Chloé when Chloé flailed backward and fell out of her seat scattering the papers. When Sabrina helped Chloé up, Chloé said Knives probably sent in the video of Chloé and the Dragon – and we’ve got to find out their name. And Knives replied she wishes she had then Chloé said her parents could ruin Knives’ to which Knives replied let ‘em try. Then you came back in.”  
  
Mme. Mendeleiev nods slowly, “merci, Kim.” The brunet nods. “Everyone pick up the worksheets closest to you then pass them down to the front of the classroom.” Mendeleiev shakes her head, “I’m not caffeinated enough for this.”  
  
When class mercifully ends, Marinette stretches at her desk. “I hope Mylène is okay. I didn’t expect her to be gone all class.”  
  
Chloé stomps down the stairs, glaring at the three of them when she reaches the bottom of the staircase then flips them all off as she leaves the classroom with Sabrina trailing behind.  
  
“If I thought this class was gonna be long it’s nothing compared to the damn schoolyear.” Alya grumbles.  
  
Marinette gets up from her desk and stretches again. “We can take her.”  
  
“Physically? Because—”  
  
“Kagami, _no_.”  
  
“Fuck that. Kagami, _yes_.” Alya leans on Marinette, “you can’t tell me Blondie doesn’t deserve an almighty asskicking? Plus, she’s already afraid of Kagami.”  
  
“But she didn’t even know who you were the other day.”  
  
“I’m guessing the... events of yesterday made our presence known.” Kagami pauses, “either that or Adrien told her.” The three of them narrow their eyes at Adrien as he glances in their direction then hastily exits the classroom.  
  
“Good. We got our foot in the door, now all we need to do is pull the rug underneath her Chanel boots.”  
  
“Those aren’t real.”  
  
Before Alya could ask or say anything, the brunette who was sitting beside Adrien approaches the front of Marinette’s desk. “Marinette, right?” Marinette adjusts her purse strap and nods, “I’m Lila. Lila Rossi. I know I’m a few days late but I wanted to officially welcome you to François Düpont.”  
  
“Merci. That’s nice of you.”  
  
“Piacerie mio. I mean, it’s my pleasure. It’s the least I could do.”  
  
“You speak Italian?”  
  
“I am Italian.”  
  
“Cool. I’m half on my papa’s side.”  
  
“Yeah? Fantastico. So glad I’m not the only one anymore. If you need anything, don’t hesitate to find me. I know all too well what it’s like being the new girl. Ciao, Belle! See you in the next class~” The brunette waves as she merrily leaves the classroom.  
  
Alya starts rubbing her arms, “did you two also get a weird vibe from that girl or was it just me?”  
  
“Weird how?” Kagami asks.  
  
Alya shudders, “the best way to describe it is: she gave me the heebie-jeebies.”  
  
“I’m not certain if that’s what I felt, considering I don’t know what that means, but I felt... something. _However_ , in the same vein, I should state that I am naturally distrustful.”  
  
“That’s a good attitude to have.”  
  
Marinette snaps out of her stupor, “I-I didn’t feel anything, and you two shouldn’t be so paranoid. Good people exist.”  
  
“So do bad people.” Alya and Kagami reply. Alya points out the door and holds her hair up in a ponytail for emphasis.  
  
Marinette sighs. “That’s true.” Alya keeps rubbing her arms. “Maybe you should see the nurse?”  
  
Alya elbows Marinette with a smile, “maybe you should, for your red face.” Marinette squawks. “You’re blushing something fierce. Did she offer to surrogate your kids or something?”  
  
“W-What?” Marinette laughs, “no, she... she called me beautiful.”  
  
“Was that all?” Kagami scoffs, “we all know you’re beautiful. Hell, we can call you beautiful every day of the week and twice on Sundays if you’d like.”  
  
“N-No, I don’t need that!”

“Perhaps but you need to build immunity to it. You are beautiful. I’m certain you see your reflection in mirrors when you coordinate your outfits.” Marinette’s face turns redder.

“Y-Yeah, I-I have... I mean I do.” Marinette bites her lip as she twiddles her thumbs, “t-the only people who c-call me beautiful are m-my māma and nonna. I-I hit m-my growth spurt early so... so I’ve been a b-bit self-conscious... about it.”  
  
“I’ve seen them both and they’re both hot. Blessed are ye with great ass genes.” Alya holds up her hand for a high-five and Kagami obliges. (Marinette forgot they spent two months together before she came in the picture.) “And your pops is huge! Come to think of it, so is your grandma.” Alya gasps, “imagine if you get taller!”  
  
Marinette sighs, “that thought has gone through my mind.”  
  
Kagami and Alya exchange a glance then nod. “That settles it. We unquestionably have to reaffirm your beauty to you. Marinette Dupain-Cheng, you are one badass glamazon.”  
  
“Your beauty is so indisputable it should be immortalized in marble.”  
  
“Ooh. That’s a good one. You’re... You’re...” Alya takes out her phone, “let’s see... synonym for beautiful. _Ah_! You’re pulch-rit-u-di-nous.”  
  
Kagami shakes her head, “yeah, no. That sounds...” She shakes her head again. “Pick a different one.”  
  
“Resplendent? That sounds real fancy.”  
  
Kagami makes a seesawing motion with her hand, “a little better.” She takes out her phone, “let me look for some. Stupefying. Splendiferous.”  
  
“Sublime.” Alya and Kagami utter simultaneously.  
  
“Stop. _Stop_!” Marinette laughs. “I get it!”  
  
Mylène is sitting on a cot drinking from a bottle of water when they enter the office. “O-Oh. Bonjour.”  
  
“Bonjour. I brought you a worksheet Mme. Mendeleiev had us looking through.”  
  
“M-Merci beaucoup. You didn’t have to do that.”  
  
“It was no trouble. All we did was practically declare war on Blondie McFakeshoes. Speaking of which, how do you know they’re fake?”  
  
“The stitching.” Marinette replies with a shrug, “I’ve seen a lot of knock-off designer stuff when I lived in Italy.”  
  
Alya rubs her hands together, “Alya _needs_ to rub this in her face.”  
  
“Alya needs to wait until she comes for us first.”  
  
Alya leans on Kagami, “you’re the best.”  
  
Kagami chuckles, “ _wait_. You said you had to show me something.”  
  
“Right...” Alya hands Kagami her phone, “did you see the news this morning?” Kagami shakes her head, “Marinette, I didn’t accidentally hit _send_ or _share_ or anything when I showed you the video this morning... right?”  
  
“No. You showed me the video, backed out of the camera app, then put your phone in your pocket.” She gasps, “you... _that—_ ”  
  
“I didn’t! I thought about it sure but I didn’t get the chance to post it.”  
  
“Oh.” Kagami nods in understanding as she pauses the video, “the only way someone could’ve uploaded content straight from your phone without your consent would be if they pickpocketed you.”  
  
“And they’d have to be a damn good pickpocket to take your phone, upload a video, then return your phone with you none the wiser.”  
  
“But do to that they’d have to be an accomplished hacker as well. To get into your phone in the first place.”  
  
“Unless the phone was unlocked and already on the camera app.” Marinette sighs, “great, now you got me on the paranoid train.”  
  
Kagami’s eyes widen, “I know exactly when it happened. Not, specifically but I know the small window. Remember after you fell from the air dancers after the akuma was destroyed? Marinette’s papa caught you and handed you your phone. There was a whole group of people in the surrounding area. From the time you fell to the time you were given your phone anyone could’ve uploaded the video to their phone especially if you were still in the camera app.”  
  
“Then they erased their tracks and probably went through a bunch of people to erase their fingerprints instead of just handing my papa the phone themselves.”  
  
Alya sighs, “great. That only leaves the unknown amount of individuals who know how to use a cameraphone from the hundreds of people who were in the ballroom. Looks like we got a mystery on our hands to solve, gang.”  
  
“Looks like it.” Marinette agrees. “Ooh! Lemme be Velma?”  
  
“Can’t. I got the glasses.”  
  
“That literally doesn’t mean anything.”  
  
“What are you talking about?”  
  
Mylène giggles and the three of them turn to her, “o-oh! Sorry.”  
  
“Don’t apologize. I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced. I’m Kagami. I believe you’ve met Alya and Nette.”  
  
Alya and Marinette exchange a glance before turning to Kagami. “‘Nette?’”  
  
“I’ve read best friends give each other nicknames. ‘Mari’ seemed the obvious choice so I wanted to go in another direction. I couldn’t come up with a nickname for Alya though.”  
  
“Ooh! Doesn’t matter! I’m absolutely on board! You’re totally Mimi now!” Alya exclaims.  
  
“And you’re Yaya.” Marinette rocks back and forth on her heels. “You can be Lyly or maybe just Ly? Lyna?”  
  
Mylène blushes, “m-me!?”  
  
“Yeah, you. We’re totally best friends now.”  
  
Alya and Kagami nod in agreement.  
  
Mylène looks at the three of them rubbing the back of her neck. “I-I don’t know what to say.”  
  
“Say ‘cheese’ cause we’re taking some pictures.”  
  
They manage to take one picture before the nurse’s office door opens and a kid with dark blue hair stumbles in holding their nose. “Another nosebleed?” The nurse sighs, ushering the kid to an empty cot.  
  
“Are you okay? Do you need us to get your notes and stuff for the next class?”  
  
“I-I should be okay to go back to class. R-Right?” The nurse nods.  
  
“Mme. Bustier has the old-school assigned seats thing going but it’s not like it’s by last name or whatever. Cause, I mean that would be simple. I’m Césaire, I’d be in the front—”  
  
“You’d also be near Bourgeois.” Kagami points out.  
  
Alya scowls and Marinette gasps, “I’m Dupain-Cheng, so would I!” She nudges Alya, “but we’d be pretty close together. Just Kagami would be all alone in the back.”  
  
“We’d better book it to class to see what Mme. Bustier did with our seats.” Mylène hops off the cot. “This should be fun~” Alya sing-songs.  
  
“Come back if you experience any symptoms, okay?” Mylène nods.  
  
The four of them walk to class chatting. Mylène would’ve been content with just listening but they’ve been engaging her into the conversation. She gets a warm, comforting feeling being near them.  
  
Mme. Bustier has pens sticking out of her bun as she paces in front of her desk with a clipboard in her hands.  
  
Everyone is lined up against the front rows except Chloé who is at her seat in the back with her feet propped up on the desk. Marinette looks around the room and when the blonde meets her eyes she waves.  
  
Marinette stops in front of the teacher’s desk as Alya, Kagami, and Mylène lean against the wall by the door. “Mme. Bustier, you’re kinda obstructing my seat.”  
  
The redhead stops pacing, “this isn’t your seat anymore. I’m figuring out the best seats for everyone.”  
  
Marinette jerks a thumb behind her, “yet you’re gonna leave _you know who_ in the same seat?” She shakes her head with a sigh then joins her friends.  
  
Mme. Bustier frowns before looking up at the top row. “Chloé, can you come down here please?”  
  
“Why?”  
  
“Because I’m arranging everyone’s seats.”  
  
“I know. That’s why I’m sitting here waiting.”  
  
“I’m moving your seat too.”  
  
“Are you sure? You know Audrey’s just a phone call away.”  
  
“I’d hate to bother Mayor Bourgeois with something this trivial.”  
  
“One bad video doesn’t change my status, Mme. Bustier.”  
  
“I’m well aware, Mlle. Bourgeois.” The redhead gestures to the class, “please. Join us.” The blonde picks up her bag and her plaque and walks down the stairs joining the rest of the class. For about a second before she heads to the front row desk on the right and sits on it.  
  
It takes five more minutes of pacing before Mme. Bustier has their seats ready (or so she says). The redhead puts Chloé in the front of the class, to the surprise of everyone. What’s even more surprising is the blonde goes without a fuss.  
  
Mylène watches Mme. Bustier check off her list as she sends the students to their seats one by one.  
  
She gets put in the desk across from Chloé, and considering what happened earlier Mylène’s not sure if this is a good move. But with what Alya told her, Mylène doesn’t only have to worry about herself. In her old class she heard horrible things about Chloé Bourgeois but to see slash experience them first-hand is something else entirely. (She’ll undoubtedly get nightmares about it.)  
  
Mme. Bustier sits a boy named Max next to her.  
  
There are seven quatrième classes in the school and Damocles somehow managed to swap students from the other six classes into this one. _Yet_ no one else from Mylène’s old class is here. Did the principal pull her name from a hat? Why was she the only one? ~~At the end of the day, it hardly matters as she never really conversed with her old classmates.~~  
  
Some unlucky, unfamiliar boy gets put next to Chloé. Mylène didn’t hear his name from Mme. Bustier.  
  
Kagami is put at the desk behind the blonde, which happens to also be next to Adrien Agreste. She does not seem happy about this, at all. Which, by all accounts, seems strange because Adrien Agreste is the handsomest boy in the school, and any girl—hell any student would be elated to be his deskmate; Mylène’s happy just to be in his proximity.  
  
Alya is put in the back, in the seat Chloé was sitting in. Next to her is a green-eyed brunette who loudly complained about her sprained ankle until a tall boy carried her up to her seat. That same tall boy got put in front of the brunette and Alya, and his deskmate is Marinette.  
  
A boy who looked exactly like Adrien Agreste with glasses is seated behind her, alongside an unfamiliar pink-haired girl. Though, to be fair, all the students here are unfamiliar to her sans Marinette, Alya, and Kagami and that’s only because they introduced themselves to her.  
  
Bustier looks over the class then takes a deep breath and nods. “Okay.” She claps her hands together and beams. “Time to begin today’s lesson!”  
  
Alya pretty much tuned out the seating arrangements on the grounds that she only cared about where three people were sitting. She tries to get a glimpse of Kagami. Being in the orbit of Adrien 1, Adrien 2, _and_ Blondie? That’s a triple _oof_. At least this class won’t have Blondie bitching, not while Kagami is within striking range.  
  
Marinette was grateful for the seat switch (especially as she never truly had a seat). There are only six rows in the classroom and she’s in the fifth. She feels for Kagami though. Mme. Bustier doesn’t have a clue the storm that’s brewing.  
  
Chloé put her name plaque on her side of the desk. Bustier (surprisingly) wasn’t budging on the desk share and Chloé doesn’t recognize the boy next to her.  
  
She sneaks a sidelong glance. Her “deskmate” has a pair of pink headphones around his neck, he’s wearing a black cap and has on a pink and black gingham style shirt. Not Adrikins level of pretty but cute... as far as boys go. How the hell has she not seen him before?  
  
Adrien was practically vibrating in his seat. Mme. Bustier put him next to Kagami! Adrien honestly couldn’t be happier if he tried. He was also next to his cousin Félix and Chloé but that was less important. Sabrina was on the other side of the classroom, and Lila was all the way in the back. Needless to say, he had plenty of opportunities to make friends! Especially as the only people from his old class were Kagami and Alya.  
  
Hopefully, there could be some salvageable bits of near friendship between him and Kagami. All he has to do is prove he’s nothing like Chloé. Simple. Adrien always admired his childhood friend’s tenacity and headstrong nature (even the times when it got him in trouble) but if Chloé flat out picked a fight with Kagami he’d be screwed. Based on years of friendship, he’d _have_ to pick Chloé’s side even if his heart would disagree and cry on the inside.  
  
Kagami feels a headache coming on. Mme. Bustier had her next to Adrien when they were in the same homeroom. She looked around the classroom while the redhead was designating seats and Alya and Marinette both mouthed apologies to her when they were given their seats. Now would be a great time to practice meditation techniques. It might lessen her urge to headbutt her desk repeatedly. She can feel one blond next to her vibrating with excitement while the other is displeased and trying to put some kind of hex on her.  
  
Lila takes a deep breath. She hit the motherfucking jackpot! Alya is downright gorgeous and she smells like sunflowers. Plus, her hair is so, so shiny. (Lila doubts she’ll be able to pay attention to class as long as she’s sitting next to Alya but, damn, her bad grades will be worth it.)  
  
Kim stretches, “oh...” He turns around, “I’m not in your way, right?”  
  
Lila smiles at him. “With you being so freakishly tall? No, Kim. I’m good.”  
  
He nods then turns back around. _Oh_. That’s what he meant. With him sitting up straight, she can’t see anything in front of her. [She doubts she’ll be able to see anything if she was behind Marinette too, so she’s just flat-out screwed. She might have to put her chair in the aisle.]  
  
Marinette props her fist against her cheek and yawns, prompting the boy next to her to do the same. “Sorry.” She whispers.  
  
“You’re good. Probably woulda yawned on my own at some point.” Marinette chuckles, “I’m Kim, by the way. Wanted to talk to you since Monday but then the akumatization happened, and I wasn’t in school Tuesday or yesterday.” They cheek kiss.  
  
“You’d be the second person I met from this class that actually _wanted_ to talk to me.”  
  
“They’ll come around. You know, hopefully. Everyone’s so used to being under Chloé’s thumb they can’t squeeze through the spaces between her fingers.”  
  
“Huh. Interesting way to put it. What about you, though? You offered to give her your seat on Monday.”  
  
“Right, _that_.” Kim rubs the back of his neck, “not my best moment. I was trying to be a gentleman but I forgot who I was trying to be a gentleman _for_. Chloé doesn’t give a shit about chivalry if it gets in her way. I could’ve just as easily offered my seat to _you_ and avoided this whole thing.”  
  
“You don’t know that.”  
  
“Yeah, guess I don’t but I still feel like I made the wrong move.”  
  
“Well, you won’t get a disagreement from me on that.” Kim laughs, “how come you’re not squished under her thumb like the rest of them?"  
  
“Alix.” Kim points to the pink-haired girl at the front of the class behind Mylène’s desk. “We’ve been best friends since we were in diapers. Tried the dating thing. It was gross. Continued to be the best pair of best friends in existence. Me, Chloé, Alix, Rose, Nathaniel, and Sabrina all went to école primaire together and were in the same damn class year after year after year. I would never go so far as to say Chloé wasn’t always terrible but she was less of a shrieking banshee when she didn’t get her way. Before she started threatening people on a regular basis she was just showing off and bragging about all the stuff her parents got her. Talking about how great her parents were. You know, typical rich kid stuff. She’d bribe us into doing whatever she wanted time and time again. Her shit was shiny and she knew us pretty well. Needless to say, we were not immune.” Marinette hums. “Chloé’s maman is called 'The Queen of Fashion' or something? Personally, I, to this day, have no idea what that _means_ but...” Kim shrugs, “I suppose it was something worth bragging about. I’m guessing she was a model at some point? Maybe a fashion designer too? Whatever. Doesn’t matter. She’s featured in magazines and all that jazz. Before she was mayor, Chloé’s papa was mayor.”  
  
“Seriously?”  
  
Kim nods, “I think the more corrupt her papa mayor became the more corrupt Chloé became. Anyway, she was showing off and bragging and whatever like always when Alix called her out on her bullshit. It’s like this spell she had over me broke. I knew Alix would never fuck around and say shit just so say it. Plus, I knew if one person on this planet knows skate history: It’s Alix Kubdel. Then a shouting match erupted and it ended with Chloé threatening to talk to her papa about closing down the skatepark. Since then they’ve been at each other’s throats.”  
  
“And that was the first time Chloé started making threats?” Kim and Marinette look up at Lila, “what? The story’s interesting and I’m engaged.”  
  
“Same here.” Alya adds.  
  
Kim shakes his head, “yeah. It was about two years ago. Before we started collège. Alix might remember the exact date. I'm guessing the reaction is what made it her go-to move. There really isn’t much I can do about anything. I’m the one who has to restrain Alix from attacking. Chloé would love to file assault charges on her. As she’s threatened to do so several times. I’d never hit a girl even for Alix. I’d probably have to find a girl to do it for me.”  
  
“Kagami.” Alya and Marinette reply.  
  
“I’ll talk to her. Even if I told the teachers what I know, they don’t take me seriously. I’m a goof. Plus, you know, they’re under Chloé’s thumb too.”  
  
“What about Mme. Mendeleiev?” Alya asks.  
  
“It feels like they’re slowly trying to break her down. Every time she does something, Damocles pops up and gets on her. Today is a fine example.”  
  
Alya taps her chin, “her parents are in control of the city which is the police along with damn near every authoritative force; politicians, other celebrities, yada yada. They don’t seem to have the media in their back pocket yet but we don’t know for how much longer. Realistically speaking, we cannot conventionally pose a threat.”  
  
“You said conventionally.” Kim points out.  
  
“You’re saying we gotta think outside the box. Poke holes in the armor. Stuff like that?” Lila asks.  
  
“Exactly. I don’t know how yet but I’ll think of something.”  
  
“Hell yeah.” Marinette nods, “I’m in.”  
  
“Me too. Just tell me what you need.” Kim looks up at Lila then gasps, “wait a second! Aren’t you like friends with Chloé?” Lila’s eyes widen slightly as both Marinette and Alya _stare_ at her. The stares aren’t bad, per se, but all their warmth and friendliness flew out the fucking window.  
  
That damn big mouth! Time to do some damage control. Lila tucks a lock of hair behind her ear, “my mamma is in the same social circles as her parents. Dignitaries and all that. I wouldn’t go so far as to say we’re ‘friends.’ However, as you’ve all no doubt experienced, being on Chloé’s good side is far better than being on her bad.” The three of them exchange glances. “I can help you guys, from the inside.”  
  
“You could just as easily be helping _her_ on the inside.” Alya says.  
  
Fuck. She wasn’t expecting that. Great. Now she’s gotta watch her ass for the pretty one. “The glitzy life has its perks, sure, but I’m a simple girl with simple needs.”  
  
Alya raises an eyebrow. “Which are...?”  
  
“Friends? _Real_ friends.” Marinette’s eyes soften just a fraction but that’s more than enough. Alya on the other hand isn’t affected. Looks like she’ll have to put in some research on the orange-haired girl. “Haven’t any of your parents _made_ you hang around with the kids your age when you knew damn well knew nothing good would come of it?” Kim nods but the others shake their heads, “ _no_? You’re lucky.”  
  
Marinette taps Alya on the shoulder and she leans forward so Marinette can whisper in her ear. Alya nods then leans back, “for your own safety it’s probably not the best idea to have you play double agent, at least for the moment.”  
  
“But we’ll be more than happy to be your real friends.”  
  
Lila smiles, “grazie and I appreciate your concern.”  
  
Alya pats her on the shoulder, “we’re good at making friends.” Marinette nods in agreement.  
  
🤺  
  
“Kagami, do you have a minute?” Adrien jogs up to her. “You walk fast.”  
  
“I do so particularly when I don’t want to be bothered.” She turns on her heels sharply and enters the gym. Adrien nearly stumbles as he follows after her.  
  
“I just want a minute of your time. After that, I-I won’t bother you... for the rest of the week!”  
  
“I find that very hard to believe.” Kagami suddenly stops walking and Adrien bumps into her. Adrien rubs his nose then looks up at the sign for the girl’s changing room. “Do you plan on following me inside here as well?”  
  
“N-No, I’m gonna get dressed myself.” Sighing, he miserably heads to the boy’s changing room. His mother had been excited when the school got M. Armand D’Argencourt to teach fencing last year. Adrien wished he was able to attend public school last year but he’s here now, no use dwelling on the past. He and Kagami are teammates, she can’t hate him if they expect to win. _Yeah_. That’s a great point to make! With renewed vigor, he gets dressed.  
  
Meanwhile, as Adrien gets dressed Chloé, Sabrina, and Félix enter the gym. “Why are we here?” Félix asks.  
  
“Because we’re supporting Adrikins, duh. Otherwise I wouldn’t be caught dead in the gym on purpose. Audrey writes me daily excuse notes for a reason.”  
  
“Too bad about Lila’s sprained ankle.” Sabrina muses, “she said to cheer on Adrien for her.”  
  
“Wait, what? What are you talking about?”  
  
“Lila? She sprained her ankle at the party yesterday, running from the tube dancers. She can’t climb all the bleachers so she went home.”  
  
Félix snickers, “hell of a party you know how to throw Bourgeois.”  
  
“Zip it Graham Cracker. When did Lila tell you she sprained her ankle? She didn’t tell me anything. Hell, I barely saw her today.”  
  
“She sprained her ankle yesterday fleeing from the akumatizations, and I’m pretty sure the reason you haven’t seen her today is because she’s cozying up to Marinette and Kagami, remember?”  
  
Chloé’s eyes narrow, “I think she’s cozying a little too much. I saw the look in her eye on Tuesday. She’s got a thing for...” The blonde frowns, “dammit. Don’t tell me I’m turning into Audrey. I’d like to remember the names of people I hate!”  
  
Sabrina sighs, “Marinette Dupain-Cheng is the girl from Monday. Lila even told us so. She’s like freakishly tall. You really can’t miss her. Kagami—”  
  
“Don’t insult my intelligence, Sabrina, I know all about Kagami Tsurugi. She truly is her maman’s daughter. How _dare_ she refuse an exclusive offer from Oncle Gabriel? Saying she’d rather be akumatized than work with him? She can’t be allowed to freely roam the city.”  
  
“Chloé, there are so many reasons I can get into to explain why you cannot do anything to Tomoe Tsurugi without insulting your intelligence.”  
  
Chloé rolls her eyes, “I don’t discriminate, Sabrina. Visually impaired or not, that bitch deserves to get akumatized. Maybe it’ll get her to change her attitude.”  
  
“I don’t know. It certainly didn’t help you.” Félix states and Chloé glares at him.  
  
The fencers start lining up. “ _Go Kagami_!”  
  
Chloé flinches then leans over Sabrina to see Blue-Hair on the bleachers with pom-poms. “As if my day couldn’t get any worse.” She grumbles then gets off Sabrina. “Time to trash talk.” Sabrina gets up and moves a seat back so she’s next to Félix. “You know Adrikins, will make quick work of Tsurugi, right?”  
  
Blue-Hair turns to her. She’s higher up on the bleachers and... Huh. Chloé hadn’t realized how pretty she was before. _Nope_. No complimenting her mortal enemy. Or is it sworn enemy? Whichever.  
  
“Right...” A pretty orange-haired girl, leaning on Blue-Hair on the bleacher behind her, waves her arm in the air carelessly, “your boy likes Mimi, he’ll get distracted and defeated.”  
  
“Adrikins is the best fencer in the school!” She growls. “And Kagami Tsurugi is barely worth a second glance let alone a distraction.”  
  
“She sure seemed to distract you. Or do you need a reminder of what happened earlier?” Blue-Hair mutters then taps her friend. “Kagami’s up. Go Mimi!”  
  
“Kick some ass, Mimi!” Orange-Hair yells as Blue-Hair shakes the pom-poms. Kagami walks to the center of the floor and puts her helmet down.  
  
M. D’Argencourt chuckles. “Fencing practice has never been so lively before.”  
  
“It’s distracting.” Kagami’s opponent grumbles putting his helmet down.  
  
“Does it ‘distract’ you because you aren’t being cheered for?” The instructor asks, the student growls. “Nationals are ten times as noisy. If you can’t deal with the ‘distraction,’ forfeit now.”  
  
“ _Never_.”  
  
“Then let us begin.” The instructor looks at the competitors. “En garde!” The remaining fencers try to inch closer. “Prêts?” He looks at the students again. “Allez!”  
  
Ordinarily, Chloé wouldn’t pay attention to anyone other than Adrien fencing but she’s glad she decided to see what Tsurugi is capable of. To start the match, Tsurugi’s opponent lunges and Tsurugi somehow deflects his attack with her épée. The crowd gasps loudly and the guy growls. She’s _obviously_ not on par with Adrikins... but she’s scary good. Compared to the peons anyway.  
  
“Someone’s getting akumatized.” Félix mumbles and Sabrina nods in agreement.  
  
After a few pathetic attempts that get brutally rebuffed, Tsurugi’s opponent just starts unprofessionally flailing his épée around and Tsurugi is not only effortlessly dodging the pitiful assault but counterattacks. It’s almost like the cartoons Adrien makes her watch.  
  
When Tsurugi effortlessly knocks the épée out her opponent’s hand he snarls tackling her to the ground. Blue-Hair and Orange-Hair get up then rush down the bleachers.  
  
“You don’t deserve this uniform!” The guy throws a punch but Adrien runs over grabbing his arm.  
  
“What do you think you’re doing, man?”  
  
“This doesn’t concern you, Agreste. Back the hell o— _ff_!” He groans loudly then slumps off Kagami. Adrien looks down at his teammate then over at Kagami noticing the blue-haired teen’s left knee is up. Adrien winces, as do the rest of the guys on the team.  
  
Marinette and Alya each grab one of Kagami’s arms helping her up. “What the hell, teach?” Alya exclaims.  
  
“Indeed. This is fencing, not wrestling M. Brisbois show a little decorum. You’re suspended from the team, indefinitely.” The boy gasps as he cups himself, “maybe you’ll learn how to work well with others in the meantime.” With a sigh, he turns to Kagami. “I trust you are unharmed, Mlle. Tsurugi?”  
  
Kagami takes off her helmet and runs a hand through her hair. “I’ve sustained no damage.”  
  
“Thank goodness. However, I believe you should see the nurse. Just in case. You did hit your head when you hit the floor.”  
  
“If it’ll make you feel better, I’ll see her when practice ends.”  
  
D’Argencourt nods. “Take M. Brisbois to Damocles so we can resume practice.”  
  
“You clowns are nothing without me! The Ice Princess and Pretty Boy don’t care about this as much as I do!” Brisbois yells as two of his former teammates drag him off.  
  
Chloé raises an eyebrow as she watches Orange-Hair and Blue-Hair fuss over Tsurugi heading to the front of the bleachers. She never noticed how _tiny_ Tsurugi is. What the blue-haired girl lacks in height she makes up for in how scary she is.  
  
“M. Agreste, Mlle. Charles. You’re up.”  
  
Chloé claps her hands together. “Finally! _Go Adrikins_!”  
  
“Go Adrien!” Sabrina cheers cupping her hands around her mouth.  
  
The rest of the girls in the bleachers, who run to the front, also start cheering Adrien’s name. They’re holding both his model posters and the poster D’Argencourt made to get people “interested” in fencing. It worked... to a degree, it just hadn’t gotten anyone interested in _joining_ fencing.  
  
Adrien clears his throat. He’d spare a glance back at Kagami but he doesn’t want to be obvious. “Mèlodie.”  
  
He can practically _feel_ the blonde grinning behind her mask. “Adrien.”  
  
“Oh. So you’re not the only girl on the team?”  
  
Kagami shakes her head leaning into Marinette as she massages Kagami’s head. “I’m one of two, and one of three non boys on the team. That girl is Mèlodie Charles. Brisbois has a problem with her as well.”  
  
“The whole _girls aren’t allowed in our sports_ bullshit?” Alya shakes her head, “it’s fucking 2020, man. Get a life. Get some hobbies.”  
  
“Does this jerk have a problem with the other non boy on the team?” Kagami nods. Marinette blows out a breath. “I’m not even gonna waste time thinking about that asshole.”  
  
“En garde!” D’Argencourt begins. “Prêts?” He looks between the two fencers. “Allez!”  
  
“Hold up. Didn’t a Mèlodie get transferred into the class too? She had long blonde hair in a fishtail braid.”  
  
“Huh. I think you’re right.” Marinette beams, “you thinking what I’m thinking?”  
  
“I could really go for some doughnuts.”  
  
Kagami nods with a hum, “same. Glazed. Maybe jelly filled?”  
  
“Definitely glazed. Feels like forever since I last had a good doughnut.”  
  
“Okay, I _was_ thinking about doughnuts, not gonna lie, but I was also thinking about cheering for Mèlodie.”  
  
“Then let’s do it now and get doughnuts later.” Alya clears her throat. “You got this, Girl!” She cheers.  
  
Chloé gasps, as does every other girl in the gym.  
  
“C’mon Mèlodie!” Marinette cheers. Kagami shakes the pom poms in the air.  
  
The girls start angrily muttering to one another. Félix can’t help laughing. Those three certainly are interesting. He might have to join the fencing team himself. Tante Émilie goes on and on about the sport but Félix never paid much attention to her ramblings. It doesn’t matter, he’s a quick study.  
  
The fencer on the right is just a tad bit faster than the one on the left and Félix would bet his bottom euro the faster fencer isn’t Adrien. Still, they’re practically evenly matched. Or so it appears. They keep moving each other back and forth. He’s gonna have to study a handbook or something when he gets home.  
  
The fencers keep clashing their épée’s. Chloé taps Sabrina, “what’s going on? How much longer until Adrikins wins?”  
  
“I don’t know!”  
  
“Teach? How about we get uniforms with some personality?” Alya asks. “Or maybe just a little something to help us tell the fencers apart?”  
  
“Hmm... that’s not a bad idea. I _do_ grow weary of these dreary uniforms. If you have any ideas, Mademoiselle, I’d love to hear them.”  
  
Alya gives him a two-fingered salute, “will do.”  
  
An épée goes flying in the air landing on the bleachers. The girls in that area run off. Adrien lifts his helmet staring wide-eyed then Mèlodie follows suit.  
  
D’Argencourt holds his hand in Adrien’s direction, “win—”  
  
Adrien shakes his head, “that wasn’t me.” The blond lifts his arm with the épée in it. “This isn’t me either!”  
  
“Just can’t take the win, can you Agreste?” A voice whispers in his ear.  
  
“Brisbois.” Adrien’s head tilts upward, “why don’t you show yourself?”  
  
“You’d like that wouldn’t you, Pretty Boy? I’ll deal with you once I’m done with the Frost Bitch.”  
  
“You’d better leave Adrikins alone!” Chloé shouts.  
  
“Kagami, look out!” Adrien falls to the floor and all the girls rush over to him. “Brisbois is akumatized and he’s invisible!”  
  
Kagami stands then gets off the bleachers cracking her knuckles, “typical of a coward. You wanna target me? I’m right here.”  
  
“Kagami, no!” Adrien screams.  
  
Kagami’s eyes narrow and she lifts her right arm defensively in front of her face and there’s a loud guttural growl. “Holy shit!” Alya yells, “did she _block_ his invisible punch?!”  
  
Everyone in the gym is stunned as they stare at Kagami. She sidesteps and the bleachers shake then there’s another growl. She moves from side to side for a while before she reaches out in front of her and grabs _something_ and pulls it down before headbutting it. There’s a _thud_ before Brisbois materializes on the floor, unconscious.  
  
“Oh wow.” A girl utters blushing slightly. “That was hot.” The girls look among one another then run from Adrien over to Kagami surrounding and cheering for her.  
  
“Unbelievable!” Chloé mutters, folding her arms over her chest. “Talk about fair-weather fans! Utterly ridiculous!”  
  
“R-Right.” Sabrina agrees, blushing.  
  
Marinette blinks then looks down at her slightly opened purse at Longg who shrugs. Not kwami magic then. Speaking of kwamis...  
  
Mèlodie squeezes through the crowd and elbows Kagami, “badass.” She holds out her fist and Kagami obliges with a fist bump. “I mean, I know your mum has you practicing fencing with your eyes closed but _wow_. Seeing it first-hand?” She whistles. “You’re on a whole nother level.”  
  
“Merci, Mèlodie.”  
  
“Just calling it how I see it. What do we do about the akuma?”  
  
“It’s gone!” Adrien exclaims, getting up. “I mean, he’s gone!”  
  
The girls gasp forming a shield around Kagami. “That coward! He’ll have to get through us first!” They declare.  
  
“How are they loyaler to _her_ than Adrikins?!”  
  
There’s a bright purple flash before a table goes flying toward the crowd. The girls hold their ground yet scream until the Dragon drops in front of them slicing the table in half.  
  
“She’s back!” Chloé squeals.  
  
The girls all cheer. “I got this. _Go_!” They drag a protesting Kagami off.  
  
“The akuma is invisible and a sexist coward.” Mèlodie states, “good luck.” The Dragon nods as the blonde runs off.  
  
The akumatization turns visible and he now has épées for hands, “you scared away my adoring fans!” He laughs.  
  
“You want a swordfight, asshole, you’re gonna get it.”  
  
He grits his teeth. “Frosty’s an anomaly but there’s no way two girls are better than me when it comes to fencing!”  
  
“Put your money where your épée is.”  
  
“Your sword isn’t exactly regulation.” He brings his hands together and it forms into a bigger sword.  
  
“Overcompensate, much?”  
  
Yelling, he rushes at the Dragon running straight through her. “W-Wha—?” She grabs him by the back of his head as she reforms. “L-Let go of me!”  
  
“With pleasure. But first, on behalf of non-male fencers everywhere? Just chill out, man!” He screams as his head gets slowly encased in ice. He gasps for air turning blue. As his eyes roll to the back of his head the akuma flies out of his fencing uniform. Once the transformation drops, his head gets unfrozen but The Dragon doesn’t bother catching him as he falls. Instead, she freezes the akuma and it shatters when it stops moving and falls to the ground.  
  
The girls cramming in the doorway cheer as they run over to her, stepping on Brisbois’ unconscious body.  
  
“What do we call you?”  
  
Chloé does a double take as she sees Sabrina among the crowd.  
  
“Fēngbào. F-ē-n-g-b-à-o.” She gives the crowd a toothy smile and they squeal, some even faint.  
  
“Hands in the air, Mlle. Dragon!” The crowd turn to police chief Raincomprix holding a riot shield, behind him are several officers also with riot shields. “There are several questions we’d like to ask you.” The crowd glares at Chloé.  
  
“This isn’t my doing!”  
  
“Maybe next time, Officer.” The crowd gives her wide berth and her wings extend.  
  
The officers run into the gym but the girls run at the officers blocking their path.  
  
“Fair-weathered they may be but they’re certainly loyal to their current obsession.” Félix says watching The Dragon—Fēngbào—fly away. That’s Chinese for something. But what? He hadn’t realized his Chinese was so rusty. Looks like he’ll have to brush up.  
  
🤺  
  
Marinette manages to slip into the crowd without suspicion. Unfortunately, her clumsiness kicks in and she trips right in front of Kagami.  
  
Kagami immediately helps her up. “Are you alright, Nette? I lost sight of you while I was being dragged away.”  
  
“I’m good. I must've got swept up in the crowd. I lost track of you and Alya.”  
  
Alya _skips_ over to them cradling her cell against her chest. “I think I found my calling~” She turns her phone over and Marinette gapes. Alya managed to get a clear picture of her before she took off. “I hid in the bleachers watching Fēng-bào not waste any effort on that sexist scum. She, like, turned into _wind_ or something.” Alya shows them another picture of Marinette—Fēngbào—partially evaporating into air.  
  
“Your photography skills are impeccable.”  
  
Marinette nods dumbly. “Merci. My favorite is this one.” Marinette internally facepalms as Alya shows them her idiotic grin. It took her like ten hours to come up with a fitting name, and even longer to come through with a perfect delivery that she blew to hell. She decided to go with something Chinese because her kwami and the Miraculouses are based on Chinese mythology... or maybe it was the other way around. It only... partially involved her being Half-Chinese herself.  
  
M. D’Argencourt cancels the rest of practice and after a quick thumbs up from the nurse, Alya, Marinette, Kagami, and Mèlodie head to Sabine & Tom Boulangerie Pâtissèrie.  
  
“I can’t believe you _live_ in a boulangerie pâtissèrie!” Mèlodie whistles, “that’s incredible! And it’s so close to the school too!”  
  
“Doesn’t stop me from underestimating the time it takes to get to school.”  
  
Mèlodie laughs, “I _over_ estimate the time it takes me to get to school. I’m like super early every day.”  
  
“Ciliegia!” Gina yells as she picks up Alya in a hug. “I was hoping you’d pop in for a visit!” Once she’s done hugging Alya, Gina gasps. “More of Fragola’s friends?” She hugs Mèlodie and Kagami at the same time. “Welcome, welcome! All of Fragola’s friends are welcome! I’m Gina.”  
  
Mèlodie blinks as Gina releases them. “Fraga-what?”  
  
“Fragola is my nickname. It means Strawberry in Italian. This is my nonna. Grandma.”  
  
“Ah. I’m Mèlodie and she’s Kagami.”  
  
Gina ushers them inside, beaming. “Bambino, we have hungry friends of Fragola to feed!”  
  
Mèlodie looks around then screams clutching her chest when Roland appears out of nowhere. “Ciao, nonno.” The old man grunts, and gives Marinette a wave before shuffling off.  
  
“If nonna is grandma then that’s your grandpa?” Alya asks and Marinette nods.  
  
Kagami watches the man disappear around the corner. “Forgive me for... assuming but he seems rather surly.”  
  
Marinette laughs awkwardly. “We’re here for doughnuts, right? Doughnuts are this way.”  
  
“Girl, don’t even sweat it. We all have a grumpy relative. You should see _my_ paternal grandpa, or Nora when she hasn’t had a match in a while.”  
  
“Do your grandparents live in the boulangerie pâtissèrie as well?” Mèlodie asks.  
  
“I’m starting to think so.”  
  
Tom outstretches his arms, “welcome to Sabine & Tom Boulangerie Pâtissèrie! I’m Tom. Our products are 100% gluten free and we make everything fresh daily, delivering our leftovers to shelters and soup kitchens around the city.” He grins at Marinette, “how was my sales pitch?”  
  
“It needs a little work. Don’t worry, papa, we’ll fine tune it.”  
  
“How about we bounce some ideas off your friends?” Marinette looks at the three of them who nod eagerly.  
  
🤺  
  
“Break out the French-Chinese dictionaries because Fēngbào is here!” Alec Cataldi begins, “man, I really hope I pronounced that properly. Thursday, in case you hadn’t heard, and seriously if you haven’t you must’ve left the city that day, we finally got the name of our personal akuma buster! _You Know Who_ might not’ve caused this akumatization to round out her week but I’m thinking François Düpont is an akuma hotspot all the same. Anyway! Let’s check out this footage!”  
  
Kagami takes off her phone with a sigh. She was carried away so damn suddenly she didn’t get a chance to transform with Wayzz.  
  
As she brushes her hair she remembers Marinette’s words from the other day.  
  
She takes a plain black hairclip and places it through the hair she brushes out of her face. “I like it.” Wayzz says as they float over to her holding a pair of small silver hoop earrings.  
  
“These?” Wayzz nods, “arigatou.” She puts the earrings on.  
  
“You and your friends are going on an impromptu tour of Paris?”  
  
“I’ve never really... gone out to see the sights of the city since my arrival. Alya said she’s seen some but not all, and Marinette just got here less than a week ago. This is absolutely something one must do with friends. Every guidebook I’ve ever consulted confirmed it.”  
  
Wayzz nods in agreement. “Paris has probably changed a bit since my last time in the city. It has been over a century. Anyways, I hope you three have fun!”  
  
“As do I. The fact that yesterday was an akuma free day has me on edge.”  
  
“Don’t let Papillion get in your head. We can take an akumatization and if we, for whatever reason, cannot the Dragon Miraculous wielder is more than capable.”  
  
Kagami stares st her reflection in the vanity then frowns. “Do you know who is behind the mask?”  
  
“No. Well, I mean sort of...? I have an idea? I didn’t stick around long enough to find out fully, though.“ Kagami takes her plain black shirt off then puts on a black and white button-up striped shirt. “Master must be furious. _Then again_ , it would be hypocritical of him to comment. He left the Order because they weren’t doing anything about the akumas and amoks here. I left him because he was taking his sweet time delivering me to you. In a sense, it’s practically the same thing.”  
  
“Yeah, practically.” Kagami scowls at her reflection. “Wayzz, will I full-on turn into a turtle the way Fēngbào became a full-fledged dragon?”  
  
“Yeah. Depends on the situation, really. And your emotions... a bunch of factors truthfully. Once you’re accustom to it you can do it on command. The majority of my Chosens prefer that form. Something about childhood and memorabilia...”  
  
Kagami picks up her chapstick and stares at it. “Should I wear makeup?”  
  
“You don’t have makeup. Hatchling, _please_ , stop overthinking. They’ll love whatever you wear. Your cluster is very supportive.”  
  
“My what now?”  
  
“Cluster. Your friends are fellow Miraculous holders.”  
  
Kagami blinks then turns to Wayzz, “ _what_?!”  
  
“Kwamis can sense each other and I sense the dragon kwami, Longg. Unfortunately, I can’t exactly _pinpoint_ Longg’s exact location. That's the whole... 'hiccup' with the kwami sensing. Never specific. Only gives the estimation.”  
  
“It’s Marinette.” Kagami’s eyebrows furrow. “I’ve seen Alya take footage of Fēngbào twice but I have never seen them and Marinette in the same surrounding area. It could just be a coincidence... but I don’t believe it is.” She looks at Wayzz through the vanity, “is it bad that I’ve figured it out?”  
  
“No. They’re your cluster. It’s damn near impossible keeping secrets from them. Back in the olden days members of the same cluster were told to keep their identify secret from one another. Granted, they rarely did but it was one of those rules everyone knew about but flat out ignored because it made no sense.”  
  
“Alya and Marinette are Miraculous users as well and we’re in the same cluster... is that why we’ve become friends so quickly?”  
  
Wayzz nods then pauses. “No. They’re just very friendly. You all being part of the same cluster is why you’ve gathered but it cannot forge the bond for you. Nor can it dictate the type of bond you create. Orikko, Plagg, Longg, and myself have been a subunit for as long as I can remember yet it’s never been like this before. This is the quickest we’ve ever been bonded together. Although we’re not fully bonded together, we’re not quite yet there with Plagg’s Chosen. She’ll come around.”  
  
“So we know her?” Wayzz nods, Kagami hums. “Figuring out who she is might require a bit more thinking.” Wayzz nods again. “Can you give me a hint?”  
  
“You’ll know it when you feel it. Your bond will slot into place like a puzzle piece.”  
  
“Not the hint I was hoping for.”  
  
“I don’t know anymore about this than you do. All I know is she’s near but the bond hasn’t formed yet. Let me put it all out there. You and Orange-Hair? Solidified bond. Those months you’ve spent in each other’s company floating on the same wavelength forged one hell of a bond. It’s a line that you go over with a Sharpie to thicken. Twintails? Your bond isn’t as strong on the count of you just meeting her. The bond is there but it’s like a dotted line. Plagg’s Chosen? Again, you just met but the bond has yet to form. No line.”  
  
“I... think I understand.”  
  
“Good. If you are unclear on something let me know.” Kagami nods. “Have you thought of a name yet? Should we get the opportunity to transform to fight?” Kagami nods, “good. Very good.” Kagami changes her shirt again. “Hatchling, _listen_ , you. Are. Overthinking. It. Your cluster wold never do anything to make you feel—”  
  
“Anything less than perfect.” Kagami recites then smiles at her reflection. Then she almost immediately scowls, “I need to work on my smile.” She changes her shirt one more time.  
  
After three more outfit changes, Kagami meets Alya and Marinette at the Louvre.  
  
Wayzz told her not to overthink her smile either and it’ll come naturally. (And she really hopes so, her face hurts from forcing a smile for the past half hour.)  
  
Kagami picks up her pace the moment she sees Marinette in the distance. Marinette’s hair is in a bun on the top of her head. She’s wearing a powder blue hoodie, a pair of grey jeans, and a pair of white sneakers. Alya has on a yellow Anansi hoodie she swallowed up in; her pants and boots are black. “Mimi!” Alya waves her over, “you gotta be the tiebreaker. Nette made the clutch she’s using.”  
  
A blushing Marinette holds out the powder blue ruffled clutch purse in her hands. “Yaya’s making a big deal out of nothing! I don’t even consider this in the top ten of favorite things I made.”  
  
Alya shakes her head, “you may think that but some people might disagree. I wanna be a photographer, you wanna be a fashion designer. The best way to get both our names out there is post on every social media platform in existence!”  
  
“You want to be a photographer?”  
  
“She’s _really_ good at taking pictures.”  
  
Alya grins. “I was _nudged_ in that direction.” Marinette beams. “I don’t wanna be just any ol’ photographer though, I wanna be a Peter Parker style photographer so I can take pictures of superheroes.”  
  
“My comic book knowledge is limited but didn’t Peter Parker only take pictures of his alter-ego?”  
  
Marinette laughs. Alya’s eyebrows furrow. “He did! He totally did!”  
  
“Really?” Alya sighs, “regardless. I don’t have a superhero alter-ego but if I did? I’d Peter Parker the hell out of myself. But I wouldn’t be obvious about it. Like I’d take pictures of other heroes while I’m suited up too. Stash a camera like in my bra or something. Not much else going on in there.”  
  
Kagami doesn’t feel too bad when her eyes aren’t the only ones that immediately drop to Alya’s chest. Fortunately, Alya doesn’t seem to notice. “Do you have a portfolio, Nette?”  
  
Marinette rubs the back of her neck, “yeesh. Wouldn’t call it _that_. I have pictures of some stuff but I’ve never really like showcased anything.” Her eyes light up, “to make the best portfolio ever I’d need a stellar, kickass photographer’s help.”  
  
“Girl, you don’t even have to ask and I’ll give you the 95% off best friend’s discount. It’s only gonna cost some mango pudding.”  
  
Marinette groans, “how was I supposed to know Nora would’ve went into childbirth _videos_!? Nonna had diagrams but I never saw the process in real time.”  
  
Kagami looks between them, “I’m lost.”  
  
“Before we met—” She gestures between them, “Alya and I had a little bet going on whose puberty talk was worse. My nonna or Nora. Nora won, hands down. She had a _slideshow_ , Mimi. I feel for your little sisters, Yaya.”  
  
“You’re not the only one.”  
  
“So when you say worse...?”  
  
“We meant most unbearable. More scarring. I still can’t eat an orange and it’s been a year.”  
  
Marinette scratches her head, “an orange?”  
  
Alya shakes her head, “you don’t wanna know.”  
  
“Except I kinda do.” Kagami says.  
  
“How did ‘the talk’ go with your maman?”  
  
Kagami’s face goes blank, “we haven’t had it yet. It’s a long standing tradition to have ‘the talk’ on the eve of the fourteenth birthday as the women in the Tsurugi clan generally don’t officially hit puberty before then.”  
  
“I hear it gets delayed if you have a bunch of siblings.”  
  
Marinette nods in agreement, “I heard that too.”  
  
“As have I. I have plenty of cousins but I’m an only child.”  
  
The three of them stare at one another. “Let’s head inside!” Marinette leads the way.  
  
“ _Behold_!” A voice booms as they step inside the building, then a spotlight shines on four decorative plates. “The Four Auspicious Beasts!”  
  
As a crowd forms, a bespectacled brunet pinches the bridge of his nose. “Jalil—”  
  
“Papa, _please_ , I... I know what I’m doing.” With a heavy sigh, the man next to their pink-haired classmates nods gesturing for his son to continue. “Merci beaucoup, papa.” He clears his throat. “Ah! I see I’ve garnered a crowd. Let me start over. The Four Auspicious Beasts—” He gestures to the plates, “also known as The Four Symbols or Sì Xiàng.”  
  
“What’s so special about this, man?” A tall blond with spiked up hair asks raising his hand. Kagami saw him at the Le Grand Paris party.  
  
“So glad you asked! It has _everything_ to do with Fēngbào and the power of the Miraculouses!”  
  
The crowd begins to murmur.  
  
Kagami glances in Marinette’s direction to see if she reacts. She doesn’t.  
  
“But last I checked a butterfly wasn’t part of The Four Symbols.” Adrien, because of course Adrien is here, states and the crowd whispers among themselves.  
  
“No, it isn’t but I’d surmise The Four Auspicious Beasts will be our aid against the akumas and amoks!” The crowd claps.  
  
“The number four is considered bad luck in China.” The curator stares at the blond. “I don’t think—” He hisses as Alya maneuvers herself through the crowd to step on his foot.  
  
“No more questions!” She chirps, “go on.”  
  
“R-Right. I believe the magic of the Miraculouses predated The Four Symbols hence the colors being a bit... off. The _azure_ dragon, Qīnglóng, is the spirit of the east and represents the season spring.”  
  
“Dude, it ain’t spring yet. Why didn’t the winter spirit show up?” Everyone shushes the blond and he grumbles under his breath and folds his arms over his obnoxious gold XY chain.  
  
“The next plate features the black tortoise, Xuánwǔ, the spirit of the north and representer of winter.” The blond pumps his fist in the air. The curator gestures to the plate below the dragon. “The white tiger, Báihǔ, spirit of the west and the representation of autumn.”  
  
XY raises a hand, “you said the colors are off but that plate has something red on it and Fēngbào is red. Maybe the colors aren’t off but mixed up?”  
  
The curator looks at the last plate, “it’s possible. However, we don’t know _what_ grants the Miraculouses Fēngbào and Mme. Papillion have the ability to do what they do.” He takes a deep breath, “lastly, we have the vermilion bird, Zhūquè; spirit of the south and representer of summer.”  
  
Adrien tries to raise his hand but Alya puts it down, “don’t ruin this for everyone else, Agreste.” She whispers.  
  
“I’m not trying to ruin anything!” He whispers back, “I’m curious about stuff.”  
  
Alya lets go of him as the crowd begins following the curator. “Our next Chinese exhibit features the zodiac animals!”  
  
“Not sure how I feel about this...” Marinette mutters. “I mean, one the one hand I’m glad people are interested I learning about Chinese history but on the other hand it’s two tiny rooms they crammed a whole bunch of stuff into.”  
  
Kagami looks around. “I’d hate to see the Japanese history section. Assuming they even have one.”  
  
Alya locks her hands behind her head, “you’re more than allowed to be upset. Pretty sure the majority of these artifacts were stolen and sold by less than reputable sources.”  
  
“You don’t know that.” Adrien protests.  
  
“No, she’s right.” Alix heads over to them, “even the shit that’s claimed to be ‘legitimate’ was stolen. History is full of people stealing things from other people, vying for credit they don’t deserve.” The pink-haired teen stuffs her hands in her hoodie pockets and shrugs.  
  
Alya grins at her. “I like you.”  
  
“Oh shit!” The five of them turn to Luka on the floor holding one of The Four Symbols plates in his outstretched hands.  
  
“I told you to watch where you’re going.” The purple-haired girl says plucking the plate from his hand and setting it where it belongs, then she helps Luka up.  
  
Luka waves at them and they wave back. The girl look between them then drags Luka over. “We meet again.”  
  
“So we do.” As Marinette smiles at Luka, Adrien frowns slightly.  
  
Luka clears his throat, “this is my sister Juleka.” The purple-haired girl waves. “Jules, this is Marinette, Alya, and Kagami. We met at the party the other day.”  
  
“Your brother was a real gentleman.” Alya says.  
  
Juleka elbows her brother, “he only is when it comes to pretty faces.”  
  
“T-That’s not true. It’s literally my job to be a gentleman.”  
  
“No, it’s your job to be hospitable. You go the extra mile when—”  
  
Luka puts a hand over Juleka’s mouth, “enough about _me_ , how have you all been?”  
  
“No complaints.” Alya replies. “Did you check out The Four Symbols exhibit?”  
  
“The one I nearly knocked over?” Chuckling, Luka releases his sister’s mouth and rubs the back of his neck, “yeah, we did.”  
  
“If what my bro says is partially true I’m crossing my fingers for a badass phoenix superhero.” The pink-haired girl points to herself, “I’m Alix. You just got transferred into Mme. Mendeleiev’s the other day, right?” Juleka nods. Alix looks around, “come to think of it all of you are recent transfers.”  
  
There’s a loud shriek and they all look toward the other Chinese exhibit room as a lifesize tiger statue busts through the wall.  
  
Marinette gapes. “An akuma?”  
  
Alya takes out her phone and starts recording, “a senti-feather.” Kagami grabs her by the hood and starts dragging her away, “haven’t seen one of those in a while.”  
  
Luka grabbed Marinette’s hand when she stood there stunned watching the remaining Chinese zodiac animal statues walk around.  
  
🤺  
  
“Madame Mayor, it’s not too late to undo this new law. I don’t think outlawing the only thing that can help us with the akumas is a good idea.”  
  
“Noted. Also, note your firing. Raincomprix, get him out of my sight.” The police chief ushers the officer out of the office then comes back inside, “anyone else who disagrees is more than welcome to leave the force. My daughter was exploited on national television. If _anyone_ thinks they can get away with that and not suffer repercussions they have another thing coming. Magical or not.” The blonde turns around in her swivel chair so her back is facing them, “I want this ‘Fēngbào’ arrested on sight, and arrest anyone who thinks about harboring her.”  
  
All the police offers lined up in front of the mayor’s desk nod and salute, “yes, Madame Mayor.” Audrey waves them all away.  
  
Roger Raincomprix is the last officer to leave the office. Audrey turns her chair back around and he nods before closing and locking the door behind him.  
  
Audrey gets up and stretches. “That kills two birds with one stone.”  
  
“Your daughter might not appreciate this law, Mme. Audrey.”  
  
“Don’t I know it.” She runs a hand down her face, “this utterly ridiculous infatuation Chloétta developed is poorly timed. I only have her best interests at heart and that’ll be hard to do if she fights me at every turn.”  
  
“Perhaps if Mlle. Fēngbào continues to treat her with disdain it’ll be easier for your daughter to fall out of this puppy love state?”  
  
“Let’s shelve that option. Last thing I want is Cleo’s heartbreak. I’d rather wait until she gets over this fucking lizard on her own time than have her be forced out of love. _No one_ will ever be too good for my daughter.”  
  
“You could always make Mlle. Fēngbào seem not worth all the trouble?”  
  
Audrey smiles, “good idea.” Nooroo preens. The blonde cracks her neck, “let’s fly, Nooroo.” The butterfly kwami flies into her brooch transforming her.  
  
As soon as she’s transformed, she feels magic forming a mask over her eyes. Audrey gasps, “Mme. Papillion? I believe it’s time we had a chat.” She closes her eyes. She sees it: one of her akumas has been infected _by a bee_?  
  
Her eyes open, “I don’t know who you are but surely there are better ways of getting my attention?”  
  
The voice chuckles in her ear. “Surely.” They agree, “however, I felt this would be the most effective method.”  
  
Audrey opens her compact and sees a yellow bee mask outline over her mask. What the hell? This is a new development. Then again, so was the damn Dragon. “You have my attention. What’s your pitch?”  
  
“I’d love to find out just how you can keep your akumas when you aren’t transformed?”  
  
“Months of practice. Next question.” They don’t know who she is otherwise they wouldn’t’ve waited for her to transform.  
  
“Would you be at all opposed to teaming up? I’ve recently become aware of _the_ book of Miraculouses, thanks to my bees, and I’ve discovered powers can be fused.”  
  
“A book? Well they have to store all that knowledge somewhere. What can your bees do?”  
  
“My power is subjugation. I know how you love to let your akumatizations have free will and all that but what if we had them completely under control? They wouldn’t get side tracked by emotions.”  
  
Audrey taps her chin. The most control she can exude over her akumatizations is fifty percent. That was her first experiment all those months ago, on Nadja Chamack. She got Nooroo when Raincomprix and a team of his officers were in pursuit of a jewel thief. She was just walking home with André after their date minding her business when the thief slammed into her knocking them both down and scattering his stolen goods all over the sidewalk. As the officers were taking the thief away, Audrey pocketed all the jewels she could grab before André could help her up.  
  
When she got home she hardly expected the gauche little lavender oval brooch to house a magical butterfly.  
  
It’s not like she _needs_ control over akumatizations. However, it would be fun to see what happens. She still has so much to learn. Thursday was the first time someone ever got hit with two akumas; however, she hardly expected some meathead to be effective.  
  
She was actually glad the Dragon didn’t waste much effort on him.  
  
What was even more intriguing was Tsurugi’s daughter. Quite the prodigy. Not just once but twice she dealt with an akumatization head on. Not even the barest threads of emotions Audrey could manipulate. No wonder Gabriel was so adamant on partnering up with Tomo Tsurugi.  
  
If Audrey can have that girl akumatized and exhibit full control over her, she’d be unstoppable. Not even the weather lizard would pose a threat.  
  
“You know what? Let’s give it the old university try.” Audrey folds her hands together, “how do you feel about testing to see if your bees can make someone more susceptible to akumatization?”  
  
“You have someone in mind?”  
  
“Two someones.” Audrey looks at the class list on her desk. “Alec Cataldi and Kagami Tsurugi.”


	4. there will be time for pets later

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A movie premiere, a sleepover, a few new heroes, and kwamis galore – not necessarily in that order; plus, the Guardian Order decide on what to do about Fù.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Marc’s name is pronounced Maa-RSEH, not like Mark  
> All Miraculouses are visible on the outside of the outfits, even in the full-on animal form (and no, I still don’t know what the rooster’s is yet)  
> This chapter is significantly longer than the rest and that’s because I didn’t want to break it in two  
> I feel like I should apologize in advance because I know absolutely nothing about social media

Longg wakes up with a yawn, ducking as a cushion goes sailing overhead. “What the—!?” They look around locating their Chosen tearing through her room in a frenzy. “What’s going on?” Another cushion narrowly misses them.  
  
“I can’t believe I didn’t finish putting my room together!” She groans, “why did I open my big mouth and invite them over? A sleepover! _A sleepover_? I haven’t had a sleepover since I was nine!” She screams. “I’m still working on the friendship bracelets—”  
  
Longg flies over to Marinette and cradles her face, “deep breaths.” Marinette nods, complying. “You have been through a rather... hectic first week in a new country, and have taken it in stride. A lesser being would’ve freaked out a dozen times over by now! You, my precious Hatchling, have tremendous strength. Inner and outer. You can undertake fixing up this room and anything else that stands before you.”  
  
Marinette nods, “merci, Longg. I needed that.” She takes a deep breath, “to think, a week ago I thought getting bumped up to First Class because of a full flight would be the only interesting thing to happen to me. Oh what a fool I was!” Longg chuckles releasing her. “Alright!” Marinette cracks her knuckles, “circumstances aside, I’m glad we’re partners.” Longg beams at her and nods in agreement. “We can tackle this room and anything else in our way, no problem! Let’s get to work!”  
  
“Atta girl!” Marinette heads over to the boxes in the corner and opens them. She pulls an aqua mannequin torso out of a box and sets it up, then she takes the red, broader mannequin torso out of another box setting that up. “What are these for?”  
  
“For finishing the outfits I’ve sewn. You’ve never seen fashion competition shows where they start sewing at a desk then finish off on a mannequin before switching to a real person?” Longg shakes their head, “we definitely need to add that to the to-do list.”  
  
Marinette pulls her pink sewing machine out of another box and kisses it before setting it up on her desk.  
  
“Okay, I _know_ what this is.” They fly over to the sewing machine. “All of my Hatchlings had different interests but I cannot remember one in recent memory to be fashion conscious.”  
  
“Watching and going to fashion shows with nǎi nai gave me a love for it. She was a big deal in Shanghai.” Marinette sighs, “I miss her.”  
  
“O-Oh! Is she...?”  
  
“What? Oh no! She’s not dead. I just haven’t seen her in years. Last time we went back to China was three years ago and we didn’t even see her then. Must’ve been six or seven years since I last saw her. We videochat twice a week but it’s not the same as seeing her in person and hearing her and dà shū arguing over spices.” Marinette chuckles then hums, “and of course, being the official taste-tester. We’re supposed to go to her house for Lunar New Year but I don’t think that’s happening.”  
  
“You never know what can happen in three weeks.”  
  
“No argument there. But can I even leave the city? Being Fēngbào?”  
  
“Of course you can. It isn’t permanently. Even if it were, I’m bound to _you_ , not Paris. Furthermore, you aren’t the only Miraculous wielder in the city. Not to mention Miraculouses exist all over the world. You might even meet a few allies in China.”  
  
With a hum, Marinette looks around her room. “So...what do you think I can add to spruce up the room?”  
  
Longg looks around, “your walls are rather bare, Hatchling.”  
  
Marinette’s pink and black vertical striped walls stare back at them. “My last wallpaper was of high-fashion articles from all over the world. It was really cute but I couldn’t take it with me without damaging it.” She shudders, “I just _know_ someone plastered all over it!”  
  
“You didn’t take photos of it?”  
  
“I did but I doubt I could recreate it exactly.”  
  
“We could always try?”  
  
There’s a knock on the floor and Longg flies over to Marinette’s bed and burrows under her pillow before Sabine’s head pops up from the door. “It looks good.”  
  
“Xiè xiè, mā mā, but I still have a ways to go.”  
  
The blue-haired woman fully comes in the room, “your sleepover isn’t until Friday. You have five days to put the finishing touches on your room. No reason to rush.”  
  
“Sleepovers are super important, mā mā, I gotta get the first impression right, down to the last detail!”  
  
Sabine laughs, “okay, okay. I’ll let you do your thing—” Marinette opens her mouth, “after dinner. Tom’s been experimenting with shū shū’s recipes again.” Marinette looks at Sabine wide-eyed, “maybe he won’t forget an ingredient this time?”  
  
“Or mix up an ingredient?”  
  
Sabine folds her arms over her chest with a sigh, “we can only hope. He’s usually unmatched when it comes to following recipes, and he’s equally skilled when winging-it. I don’t know why anything he attempts that comes from shū shū is such a disaster.”  
  
“Nerves? Dà shū is a culinary deity! He made Nonna’s TV dinner mash-ups edible!”  
  
“I understand he is revered for his incomparable skill, but it’s not like he’s a grump like yuè fù—” Marinette giggles, “don’t tell Tom I said that.”  
  
“Your secret is safe with me. Though, I don’t think yé ye being grumpy is much of a secret to anyone who’s ever seen him.”  
  
“True. The _real_ secret is how Tom turned out the way he did since Roland is the one that raised him.” Marinette chuckles. Sabine and Marinette head downstairs and a blonde with her hair in a low ponytail is looking around. “Can I help you?”  
  
The woman removes her sunglasses and puts them on her head, “I certainly hope so. I’m Amélie Graham de Vanily. Yes, _that_ Amélie GdV.” Sabine and Marinette stare blankly at the woman. “You’ve... never heard of me?” They shake their heads. “Huh. This is a curious, new feeling. Anyway. Why I’m here. You... catered Chloé Bourgeois’ birthday party last week and did remarkably well on such short notice. The parts that weren’t destroyed by akumas or people fleeing were quite delicious. And you make everything gluten free, correct?” Sabine and Marinette exchange a brief glance before the former nods. “Excellent. My nephew Adrien has his first movie premiere on Friday at Le Grand Paris and I’m hiring you to cater it. I’ll triple your normal rate as this is short notice.”  
  
Sabine opens her mouth to refute the “short notice” bit when Marinette subtly elbows her. “We’ll need a list of everything you want.”  
  
“Of course.” The blonde takes a rolled up piece of paper out of her shirt sleeve, handing it to Sabine. “I hope you don’t have PTSD from the last akumatization that took place at that hotel and I can’t promise there won’t be another one. I’ll pay upfront because it’s quite the list.” She takes a checkbook out of her purses and hastily scrawls on a check before tearing it out of the book and handing it to Sabine.  
  
Sabine’s eyes widen and she coughs when she stares at the check. Marinette pats her mother on the back, “t-this—! This is _twice_ our normal rate tripled!”  
  
“Is it? How do you profit from such modest prices for extravagant pâtissèries? Oh well. I already wrote the check. Consider what’s left over an apology for having to deal with the Bourgeois’ family drama twice in the same month.” Sabine gapes at the woman. She’s about to put her sunglasses back over her eyes when she looks over Marinette, “you have lovely bone structure. Have you considered modeling?”  
  
Marinette holds her arms out in front of her waving them frantically, “n-no, no way.”  
  
“Pity. You should. I know people. I also love your jacket. They call peonies the queen of flowers, right?” Marinette nods. Amélie puts her sunglasses back on. “I’ll be in touch.” Then she leaves.  
  
Sabine looks down at the check again, “did you see this?” Marinette looks at the check and whistles. “Tom! _Tom_!”  
  
Tom runs out of the living room to the boulangerie frantically looking around, “I’m here! What’s wrong?” Sabine gives the check to Marinette who holds it out in front of Tom’s face. “ _Mio Dio_! W-What—? I don’t understand. Who is paying us this much and why?”  
  
“It’s for a movie premiere Friday. The only catch is it’s at Le Grand Paris again.” Tom groans, “and the woman even said there’s no guarantee there won’t be another akumatization.”  
  
“I wonder if we can commission Fēngbào to protect us?” Tom puts an arm around his wife and daughter, “later. Food first, then we’ll talk about how we’re gonna buy the most expensive ingredients we can find!”  
  
🦊  
  
Alya adjusts her bag strap as she steps in Le Grand Paris. She and Nora rock-paper-scissored to see which of them would have to bring their mother her forgotten lunch. Alya takes a deep breath repeating her mantra: “Find ma. Give her the lunchbox. Leave. Find ma. Give her the lunchbox. Leave. Find ma—”  
  
“Excuse me? Excuse me! Hold on just one second!”  
  
“Oh for fuck’s sake.” Grumbling to herself, she turns to the police officer who is beside her panting. She raises an eyebrow at him as he stands up straight regaining his composure.  
  
“Shouldn’t you be in school?”  
  
“I’m on my way there. Just dropping off something for my maman first.” The officer stares at her squinting then Alya sees the very second he recognizes the resemblance.  
  
“O-Oh. Apologies.” He clears his throat. “The main kitchen is down the hall and to the left. You should find Mme. Césaire there.”  
  
Alya gives him a two-fingered salute as she heads to the kitchen.  
  
Marlena is scratching her head, looking over today’s menu, when Alya opens the door. She makes grabby hands at her daughter and Alya walks into the embrace laughing. “You are exactly the pick-me-up I needed. This damn menu makes no sense whatsoever! It’s like someone pulled the most expensive items from the country out of a hat and are stubbornly trying to make them go together. Spoiler alert? They don’t go together.”  
  
“Ma, you’re Marlena Césaire, you can put anything together and make it great.”  
  
“Even my culinary powers have limits.” Alya laughs, “oh well. Powers that be aside, it’s not like it’s my palate that’s getting ruined.”  
  
“What about when you taste it?”  
  
“I’ll have someone else do that.” Marlena blinks at her daughter, cradling her face. “Huh. I got so happy to see you I didn’t even think to ask why you’re here to begin with.” Alya sets the lunchbox on the counter. “Oh for fuck’s sake! _Again_!?”  
  
“Again.”  
  
Marlena kisses her daughter on the forehead, “you’re the best. Nora didn’t try to get you to arm wrestle her again, did she?”  
  
“Not this time. Rock-paper-scissors.” Marlena sucks in a breath. “wish I could stay longer and shoot the breeze but I gotta go. School and all that.”  
  
“We gotta play hooky one day.”  
  
“I’m game if you are.”  
  
“I am definitely game.” Marlena finally releases her daughter, “we’ll talk it over more when I get home. Go be a responsible young adult and attend school.” Alya laughs.  
  
“Margery, I require your input on something.” Audrey Bourgeois walks into the kitchen with a tablet. She pauses mid-step as she sees an orange-haired bespectacled girl. What a beautiful little girl! She absolutely should be in the company of Carol. She’ll finally have someone as beautiful as her in her company. Maybe she’ll ditch Raincomprix’s plain jane of a daughter and the diplomat’s shifty kid. Or, if nothing else, it’ll prompt those two to up their standards. (How her own flesh and blood can tolerate her “best friends’” average fashion senses is boggling.) Audrey turns to the orange-haired woman, “your daughter?”  
  
The head chef nods. (The woman is beautiful herself so Audrey really shouldn’t be surprised at how beautiful her daughter is.)  
  
Nodding, Audrey walks over to them holding out an envelope. “This is an invite to a movie premiere here Friday. Only the most beautiful people in Paris are invited.” The girl gapes at the envelope. “I’m personally inviting you.”  
  
“ _Wow_. You— _really_?”  
  
“Really. You should be grateful you get your looks from your maman.” The girl waves to her mother before leaving. Audrey watches her leave before turning back to the orange-haired woman holding out her tablet. “Which of these would best suit the movie premiere’s...” She waves her free hand around, “ambiance?”  
  
It’s about a fifteen minute walk from Le Grand Paris to François Düpont. When Alya gets to the courtyard, her phone alarm starts going off. “What the hell—”  
  
“Isn’t that just the darnedest thing?” She whirls around to see a person made of electricity hovering in front of her. “Electricity is such a fickle thing, ain’t it?” They blink their soulless yellow eyes at her, “ _rejoice_ , Mademoiselle! You’re about to get a front-row seat to Livestream’s exclusive scoop!” They grab her by the waist. Surprisingly, the electricity isn’t hurting her nor is it frizzing her hair.  
  
Though suddenly launching them in the air does make her dizzy.  
  
“Attention Paris!” Every intercom in François Düpont loudly shrieks to life causing students in every class and hallway to cringe, then everyone’s cellphone screens light up light blue. “I—hmmm? Not in the camera. Can you hold this for me?”  
  
“Yeah, sure.” Inside Mme. Mendeleiev’s homeroom, Marinette looks up at the intercom with wide eyes.  
  
“Was that Alya’s voice?”  
  
“Ah. Merci.” The camera pans out showing a person made of light blue electricity. “Better! Much better. Attention Paris, this is Livestream and I’m here with... with... oh dear me. I do apologize. How terribly inhospitable of me not getting your name.”  
  
“Alya.” Mme. Mendeleiev’s homeroom collectively gasps. The camera moves down so that it shows Alya in Livestream’s arm. Marinette bites her lip, digging her nails into her palms. Kagami flexes her fingers.  
  
“Merci beaucoup, Mlle. Alya.” The camera moves back up to Livestream’s face. “Paris, we’re here to deliver a message to you—”  
  
“Attention Akumatization Livestream—” The camera turns to Principal Damocles standing in the courtyard holding his megaphone, “please release our student.”  
  
“The spineless principal of François Düpont, my fellow Parisians!” The camera turns back to Livestream, “you think you can order _me_ around? Let’s find out your big scoop!”  
  
Damocles’ phone pings then a blue light overtakes his body. Alya zooms the camera in as he transforms into an electric being like Livestream. “Geoff Damocles’ biggest scoop?” Damocles chortles, “I’ve always wanted to be a superhero~” He twirls around, “I absolutely love Fēngbào and hope they come out with merchandise of her soon! I’m wearing a custom-made I 🖤 Fēngbào shirt right... oh.” He looks down at himself then shrugs and goes back to twirling.  
  
“Wow.” Livestream and Alya utter.  
  
“Not the scoop you were hoping for, huh?”  
  
Livestream shakes his head, “not at all.” He lolls his head from side to side, “gotta get my scoop somewhere else then. But first~” Alya sees part of a yellow mask form over his face and she moves the camera accordingly. “Listen close and listen well because I have a message for all of Paris, from my master Guêpe Tueur. The swarm is descending upon us and your precious Fēngbào won’t be enough to save you!”  
  
“Fēngbào isn’t the only hero in Paris!” Livestream turns around and Alya focuses the camera on a fox pointing their flute at Livestream.  
  
Livestream’s eyes _literally_ light up. “Ooh. Now _this_ is a scoop~” He sing-songs.  
  
“Release the civilian.”  
  
“Unless you can get me a better camerawoman I’m gonna have to decline.” The fox beckons Livestream before blowing on their flute and disappearing. Livestream gasps, “did you get that?”  
  
“Yup.”  
  
“Wonderful. Let’s go after them.”  
  
🦊  
  
“Master!” The kwamis hover over Fù as he slumps against the wall panting and Trixx gets ejected from the foxtail pendant of the necklace around his neck.  
  
“I couldn’t even maintain an illusion for five minutes.” He pants, “I’m more out of practice than I believed.” The kwamis help him get to his feet.  
  
Orikko flies in front of Fù’s face, “Master, I’m not getting any sort of indication of my Chosen being in danger. A little ridiculous given the situation, don’t you think?”  
  
“I don’t believe Livestream intends to hurt anyone, least of all your Chosen—”  
  
“Besides.” Plagg interrupts, “you can’t do anything with a droned-up akumatization all in her space.”  
  
“Then that means I’m up.” Trixx pats their chest then takes the necklace from around Fù’s neck. “I’ll finish what you started, Master. Just gotta find my Chosen... no big.” They grab their Miracle Box that turns into a green ink pen. “Wish me luck~”  
  
Master Fù’s gambit might’ve drained his physical strength (and possibly some of his lifeforce) but it led Livestream _away_ from François Düpont. Trixx turns invisible, so they don’t get noticed before finding their Chosen, as they fly through the school. They wince as students holding onto their cellphones transform into Livestream’s minions all the while spilling their “greatest scoop.”  
  
Surprisingly enough, that terrible little blonde girl catalyst is holding her phone yet she isn’t transformed.  
  
The blond boy walking beside her shakes his head. “I don’t understand. Chlo, how are you not affected? I had to throw my cell across the room before it could change me.”  
  
The blonde scoffs patting the boy on the cheek, “I was publicly humiliated for falling in love with a superhero and orchestrating a flawed, half-assed plan to see her on my birthday. What other possible ‘big scoop’ could I have?”  
  
“...Good point.”  
  
“Change the narrative, Adrikins, once you control your biggest scoop or whatever you can use your phone again.” She grabs him by the collar and takes a picture of them together.  
  
“ _Are you fucking kidding me_?”  
  
Mme. Mendeleiev was ushering her students down the hall and out of the building. She had them all abandon their cellphones after Rose Lavillant transformed with her “biggest scoop” being her crush on her best friend and fellow bandmate(?) Juleka Couffaine. The aforementioned purple-haired girl might’ve transformed along with Rose had Lila not whacked the cellphone away from the girl’s very hand with a broom.  
  
The class watches a woman and _Anansi_ glare at the vice principal. “Mme. Césaire, we’re doing everything in our power to find your daughter.”  
  
“Is that a fact?”  
  
Adrien and Chloé grab onto each other as they jump and down squealing. “It’s Anansi!”  
  
“Keep moving!” Mendeleiev urges.  
  
“If there was ever a time to need a cellphone!” Kim wails.  
  
“ _Move_ or you’re not getting your phones back when this ends!” Grumbling, the class miserably shuffles along.  
  
Mme. Bustier runs over to Mme. Mendeleiev and her class panting, “it’s terrible! My _entire_ class was transformed! All they’re doing is gabbing about their darkest secrets and snapping selfies of themselves!”  
  
“Sounds like a nightmare. Come on.”  
  
Sighing in relief, the redhead walks alongside Mme. Mendeleiev, “d-did you know about Damocles?”  
  
“And his apparent hero obsession? No. How come you weren’t transformed with your class?”  
  
“I have no secrets.” Mendeleiev fixes her with a stare of disbelief. “What about you?” The redhead looks over all the students walking ahead of them. “No one in your class transformed?”  
  
“One has. Told them to ditch their phones once it happened. Some cried briefly.”  
  
“But Chloé is snapping selfies!”  
  
“She’s immune, apparently. She said thanks to the news the other day her only secret stopped being a secret.”  
  
“But, uh, what secret was that?”  
  
“Hell if I know. You know more about that kid than I do.”  
  
Trixx watches their Chosen with one hand in their pocket and the other laced with a redhead, and they’re both behind the class and in front of the teachers. They’ll never be able to slip away without drastic measures. Trixx conjures illusions of Livestream’s minions rounding the corner.  
  
“ _Look_!” A tall, blue-haired kid yells pointing at the illusions. (Wait. That’s Longg’s Chosen, isn’t it?)  
  
“ _Move, move_!” The students scream and start running. Trixx grabs one of their Chosen’s shoelaces and they trip.  
  
The redhead gasps staggering as the movement caused them to release Trixx’s Chosen’s hand. The redhead runs back to the blue-haired teen trying to help them up. Oh. Well, as sweet as this is it’s not really helping the situation.

  
Trixx dispels the illusions that were “chasing” the rest of the students and conjures a solid minion that grabs their Chosen enacting a tug-o-war with the redhead for their Chosen’s body. “You can’t have them!” A short pink-haired kid runs back over to the redhead helping them pull.  
  
Some of Livestream’s actual minions begin making their way over.  
  
Trixx amplifies the illusion’s size and it swallows their Chosen whole and the redhead and pink-haired kid lose their balance. “ _No_!” The redhead screams crawling over to the minion. They almost look as though they’re gonna dive onto the illusion but the pink-haired kid holds them. “Let me go!” The illusion lifts its head, reaching its arms out to the redhead but the pink-haired kid is stronger than they look because they lift the redhead to their feet.  
  
“We need to go!”  
  
“We-We can’t just—”  
  
The pink-haired kid hits one of the actual illusions with a broom, “come on! We can’t do anything for them now.” The redhead spares a heartbroken look at the illusion as they are dragged away.  
  
Once those two are out of the building, Trixx brings the illusion upright as they help their Chosen to their feet leading them to the all-gender bathroom, the remaining individuals unaffected ignore them as they make their way out of the building while the individuals who are affected ignore them in favor of trading gossip.  
  
Trixx closes and locks the bathroom before turning visible. “I... apologize about my method of separating you from your class. Your red-haired friend made it difficult though.”  
  
“Boyfriend.”  
  
Trixx nods, “ah. Makes sense.”  
  
Their Chosen’s heterochromatic green eyes widen as they stare at Trixx. “You’re so cute.” They circle the kwami then Trixx nudges their head into the petting hand then stops themselves.  
  
“T-There will be time for pets later! Master Fù used my Miraculous so we’ll have to finish what he started.”  
  
“M-Miraculous?” They gasp, “you’re a familiar?”  
  
“That is... one way to put it. Yes. My name’s Trixx, Marcele Anciel, and I am your kwami partner.”  
  
“You know my name?”  
  
“Kinda need to know it so I can find you. I know your name and your soul... just not how you look until I see you face to face. Not that the last bit matters all that much.” Trixx ties the necklace in their hands around Marc’s neck. Marc looks down at the foxtail pendant then the pen Trixx hands them, “I have powers over deception. Master Fù used those powers to lure Livestream from the school so I could find you. I’m certain his original plan involved defeating Livestream himself but as we are not born to each other and he has spent many years without transforming the effects on him were instant.”  
  
“This is one of those I’m gonna die if I use this improperly sort of deals, isn’t it?”  
  
“I’m afraid so.”  
  
“Can I decline?”  
  
“I’m afraid not. Your soul was born to merge with me. You won’t die by using my powers. If _another_ kwami comes to you offering you power you’ll die.”  
  
Marc sighs, “oh great.”  
  
“It’s not that complicated, Kit. We got this. To transform simply say, _Trixx – work your magic_.”  
  
“Then what?”  
  
“Then we... figure out a way to stop Livestream? We’re kinda on a time crunch. The bee and butterfly are being used on this guy. Papillion has no qualms about letting akumatizations run loose with no time limit but we don’t know about this Guêpe Tueur character. Their patience can be getting shorter and shorter the longer we’re not out there.”  
  
“Okay. I get it.” Marc takes a deep breath, “but we’re gonna talk about this whole death by other powers bit.”  
  
“Oh, absolutely.”  
  
“Trixx, work your magic!” Marc’s eyes widen as Trixx flies into the pendant, “ _oh crap_.” Marc’s body starts glowing orange, “I forgot to ask how to change back. Ugh. That was a rookie move!”  
  
🦊  
  
Livestream kicks down the doors of Le Grand Paris, “bonjour!” The police officers aim their guns at him. “Seriously? I’m made of electricity, you think bullets will hurt me?” The officers look among themselves, “besides...” He points at Alya, “the camerawoman? Made of flesh? Recording everything?” The police lower their weapons. “Good call. Now bring me your boss.”  
  
André pats his head with a handkerchief as he stands in the elevator awaiting the proverbial firing squad. Hell, there might even be a literal one. The police told him about the situation then took it among themselves to sacrifice _him_ to save the life of some classmate of his daughter’s he doesn’t know! No one is that selfless; even if he were willing to negotiate. He’ll have Audrey fire the lot of them once this is over.  
  
He didn’t look at the news this morning. Audrey ordered them a couple’s massage and he only just woke up (well woke back up) with the knocking on his door.  
  
The question is what did he do? _He_ doesn’t cause akumatizations, Audrey and Chloé have that covered!  
  
Oh. Unless he’s being used as bait for one of them. _Again_.  
  
The elevator doors open and... well they did not describe _this_. A person shaped containment field of electricity is holding onto— _holy shit_! That’s one of Marlena Césaire’s daughters! He saw her picture in the head chef’s wallet. Oh crap. If this electric akumatization doesn’t kill him Marlena sure will. Plus, her eldest daughter is a professional kickboxer.  
  
No wonder they readily offered to sacrifice him.  
  
He’d do the same in their shoes.  
  
“Don’t look so glum, M. Bourgeois! What do you think I’m gonna do to you?”  
  
“Well, you _are_ made of electricity.”  
  
The akumatization _laughs_. “M. Bourgeois, all I wanna know is your biggest scoop~”  
  
André’s eyebrows furrow then his phone goes off a surge of light blue overtakes his body changing him into a creature like the akumatization. “André Bourgeois has so many scoops it’s so difficult deciding just one.” He _giggles_. “So I’ll share them all! I enjoy being pegged by my wife.”  
  
Alya looks over at Livestream from above her phone. “What does that mean?”  
  
Livestream runs his free hand down his face, “if I knew he was gonna say anything even _remotely_ close to that I would’ve covered your ears.”  
  
“I’m guessing it’s a grown-up, behind closed doors kind of thing?” Livestream blinks at her, “I’m thirteen, not three. Plus, I have an older sister with no filter and two parents who are very tactile. I know a bit about sex stuff.”  
  
“‘A bit,’ sure, but...” Livestream blinks pausing, “why are we having this conversation?”  
  
“—took Audrey’s surname when we got married. In fact, I changed my entire name. Twice. Sometimes I like wearing Audrey’s lingerie. I can walk in heels better than Audrey can. I’m pretty sure my wife is bisexual.”  
  
“Wait a second. Just how is that _your_ secret?” Livestream asks.  
  
André blinks at him, “because I’ve never told anyone I thought this?” Livestream sighs making a go-on gesture. “Speaking of my wife, I’m about 98% certain Audrey and Émilie Graham de Vanily slept together multiple times. I’ve enjoyed humiliation play a lot more than I led Audrey to believe. I love my daughter endlessly but sometimes her voice grates on my nerves. I want to get akumatized to see how it feels to be in charge for once. Even when I was mayor, I was just doing what Audrey told me. I can’t seem to grow facial hair. I think baldness is hereditary in my family so I feel for my daughter yet at the same time I want to see it happen. Then again, sometimes I think Chloé isn’t my daughter. Audrey and my wedding photo is Photoshopped. I only pretend to understand English. Audrey gave our daughter a stupid full name; combining Charlotte with Chloé is – in her words – utterly ridiculous. I think Gabriel Agreste is overrated. I can’t tell Émilie and Amélie apart. I don’t have any real friends. I haven’t seen my family in fifteen years. Audrey’s favorite toy is the cat-o-nine-tails. _My_ favorite toy is—”  
  
“No more sex secrets! In fact, just shut up!” Livestream massages his forehead. “I should’ve went for Audrey Bourgeois.”  
  
“ _You_!”  
  
Livestream whirls around to see Marlena Césaire in the doorway. “Maman!” Alya greets.  
  
“You okay, Alya?” Alya gives her a thumbs up. She smiles at her daughter before glaring at the akumatization. “Let go of my daughter.”  
  
“I’m sensing some heavy killing intent, Mme. Césaire. I have not harmed your daughter.”  
  
“Let. Her. Go.”  
  
“Fine. Fine. Okay. I’m letting her go.” Livestream floats to the ground then releases Alya. When Alya runs over to her mother the two of them disappear in a plume of smoke. “What the hell?!”  
  
Fēngbào opens the hotel doors and runs at him then puts a hand on his head absorbing his entire body leaving two golden eye like orbs to fall on the ground. When she bends down to pick up the orbs a bee begins to fly out of one and a butterfly tries flying out of the other. She smashes the orbs together and a red-orange mist shapes into a human body then when the color disappears, Alec Cataldi is unconscious on the lobby floor.  
  
The police cheer for Fēngbào before remembering they’re supposed to arrest her.  
  
Raincomprix isn’t with them and they’re not really disobeying orders if she runs off.  
  
The officers make a big showing of looking over M. Bourgeois as Fēngbào escapes. A red-orange light engulfs André’s body returning him to normal. He pats his face and cries out in joy... until his phone rings showing Chloé’s number. “Oh dear.” If only he _wasn’t_ aware of everything he blabbed.  
  
🦊  
  
“That was the coolest thing ever!” Alya gushes as they land in front of François Düpont. “I _know_ my ma doesn’t have superpowers because she would’ve told me! Who are you? _What_ are you? How did you—” The woman cradles her face in the same manner her mother would. “Y-You _are_ her... b-but you’re also not. Did you speak to her?”  
  
The woman nods, “this was her idea. She was going to come herself but I thought it would be too dangerous.”  
  
“T-Then you’re like Fēngbào? Another hero! One who can create duplicates of people.”  
  
“Something like that.” With a smile, they disappear into thin air.  
  
“Alya!” She barely has time to brace herself before Marlena and Nora tackle her.  
  
“The new hero was a fox, right? An orange one with a flute?”  
  
Marlena nods, “I’m so glad you’re okay. That fox did such a good job of being me. She was so cute too.”  
  
Nora releases Alya to stare at their mother. “She the duplicate you?”  
  
“No. She the fox. At least, I _think_ they were a she? They were pretty either way.”  
  
Damocles facepalms as he picks up his megaphone, “the akuma attack is over.” He sighs heavily, “everyone back inside. Take a minute to gather yourselves then head to class. Classes will resume in twenty minutes.” He walks over to the Césaire women. “Are you alright?”  
  
Alya gives him a thumbs up. “You are so very, very lucky my daughter is 100% fine.” Damocles gulps at the glare Marlena is giving him. When Marlena turns to her daughter, Damocles flees inside the school. “I’m sticking with you until classes resume.”  
  
“What about work?” Nora asks.  
  
“You think I give a shit about that? My daughter was in an akuma’s clutches for over an hour. The same akuma who got to my boss. I doubt he’s thinking about _me_ with the shitstorm his word vomit created.”  
  
Everyone starts making their way back to the school. The TVi news blimp soars over the school. “This is Nadja Chamack with your, seemingly daily, post-akuma attack news. It is 9:42am on Monday, January 13th, 2020. Today’s session should be interesting.”  
  
“No doubt about that as I, Alec Cataldi, was today’s akumatization Livestream.”  
  
“Pause for dramatic effect?”  
  
“Of course!” The two of them chuckle.  
  
“How are you, by the way? I feel like we don’t get around to asking the victims their take on things.”  
  
“We’ll have to start a segment dedicated to that.”  
  
“I volunteer to kick things off.” They chuckle again. “But seriously: How are you, Alec?”  
  
“Physically? I feel fine. Getting absorbed into a weather controlling dragon did not hurt as much as I thought it would.”  
  
“It _didn’t_?” Alec shakes his head. “Hmm. Interesting. I suppose it was because it happened so quickly. Anyway on with today’s session. Now Alec, you say you weren’t even overcome with any emotion when _a bee_ flew into one of your contact lenses?”  
  
“That’s correct, Nadja. It was through Guêpe Tueur’s possession that I was akumatized.”  
  
Nadja cringes, “and an akuma flew into your other contact?” Alec nods. “We’ve seen them fly into hats, sunglasses, glasses, hairties, t-shirts, necklaces, earrings. Things things just a hairsbreadth above the skin to make akumas have topical contact. But _contact lenses_?! Too close for my comfort and I don’t even wear contacts.”  
  
“Speaking of skin, I established akumas cannot possess topically.”  
  
“How do you know?”  
  
“I was naked when I was akumatized.” Nadja whistles. “Fresh out of the shower, putting on my contacts. Guêpe Tueur and Papillion fortunately allowed me to put on clothes before my transformation.”  
  
“But, I mean, it wouldn’t’ve mattered...? You turned into electricity. You were naked akumatized!”  
  
“I _was_ , wasn’t I?”  
  
“You were. So this means these bees don’t need emotion to attach themselves to someone?”  
  
“Probably not. So be careful, Paris. _Oh_! And I’d like to thank slash apologize to Mlle. Césaire, and plead for my life from Mme. Césaire. Hell hath no fury, like a pissed off maman.”  
  
“As a maman myself, I concur. And I wouldn’t let up on the pleading for at least a week.”  
  
“I didn’t intend to. This also reminds me to call my maman to let her know how much I appreciate her. I don’t think she’d stand up to an akumatization for me – and I wouldn’t advise her to – but, you know, there it is.”  
  
“Remember to appreciate your mamans, folks. Don’t skimp on the gifts. May will come before you know it.” Nadja taps her chin. “Do you think Papillion is a maman?”  
  
Alec grimaces, “ _ooh_. I feel like we should take that question to the viewer poles. We know she’s an adult from the way she spoke to Fēngbào during their first ‘face-to-face.’” He clicks his tongue, “she could very well be someone’s maman and I honestly have no idea how to feel about that.”  
  
“Me either. I gave myself chills when I asked. Let’s change the subject! For sanity’s sake. There’s another new hero in Paris! We probably should’ve opened with that. It looked like a cat of some kind?”  
  
“I think it was a dog? Didn’t really get a good look at it. All I remember is they were orange.”  
  
They stare at each other briefly. “Well, whatever it was any info about it—about them would be greatly appreciated, and speaking of info and appreciation. The incoming texts are at an all-time high! Merci beaucoup, Paris, for sharing your post-akuma news. Every bit of information we get might reveal something we missed. I get that people were possessed because of their phones but this might be a record at how quickly news is coming in! We’re getting _everything_ from the truth bombs of André Bourgeois. Or whatever his real name is. To Principal Geoff Damocles of François Düpont and his... weird—” The burgundy-haired woman makes a seesawing motion with her hands, “interest? I don’t wanna jump right into pedophilia because he’s a _principal of a collège_ for God’s sake! Furthermore, while Fēngbào certainly _looks and sounds_ young she could be older than time itself.”  
  
“Don’t care. Can’t call a duck anything other than a duck, right? She could be older than all of us but the bottom line is she physically _looks_ young, even as a full dragon, which makes Damocles’ confession seven levels of creepy.”  
  
“Yeah, no doubt.”  
  
“No one ever should be _glad_ to be akumatized but I certainly am glad that came to light.”  
  
“You and me both. Hopefully, we’ll get some clarification from the man himself. **Soon**. I’m not saying having an appreciation for _possibly teenage_ heroes is a bad thing—” Nadja and Alec exchange a glance, “but speaking as a maman? My daughter is eight. If some grown-ass man was wearing an I 🖤 shirt of her, famous or no, I’d be... concerned. To say the least.”  
  
“Like the adult fans of Clara Nightingale and XY?”  
  
Nadja cringes, “we’ll... have to dedicate another segment of another show to _that_.”  
  
“Abso-damn-lutely. If this Damocles thing is a seven than those fans are at least a twenty. Possibly twenty-five. I mean—” They both take a deep breath. “Our producers are telling us that’s all the time we have for today’s session. Or this morning’s session rather. Might be a good thing because I can go on an hour long rant about the inappropriate behavior of those adult, ‘hardcore’ XY and Clara Nightingale fans.”  
  
“You’re not the only one. To hell with production order. We’re putting that at the top of the list for new segments.”  
  
“Damn right. This is Alec Cataldi.”  
  
“And I’m Nadja Chamack, barring another akuma attack we’ll be back on the air at noon with _What’s For Lunch_? And hopefully a bit on what we spoke of today.”  
  
“ _You’ll hear just how my voice can grate on nerves if you keep ignoring my calls_!” Chloé screams into her phone as she walks in the building.  
  
Marinette and Kagami run over to Alya hugging her. Then it turns into a group hug as Marlena and Nora hug Alya again.  
  
By the time the class returns to the classroom Rose has her head down at her desk. Chloé taps the desk and Rose looks up, “I sincerely hope you’re not embarrassed because you like another girl?” The shorter blonde looks down. “You _are_? That’s utterly ridiculous!”  
  
“It is not! Juleka and I are friends. Best friends. We’ve known each other since we were six! ‘Plus, I don’t like girls like that.”  
  
Chloé rolls her eyes, “arguing is pointless. You could know someone for years or just a few minutes, either way the heart knows what it wants when it wants it. You may not like girls, plural, but you sure as hell like one girl. Get over yourself, Lavillant. You’re hardly the prettiest girl in the class. If your girl is into girls, it won’t take her long to overlook you.” Chloé smirks, “and I happen to like purple.” Rose’s eyes widen. Flipping her hair, Chloé walks up to her desk.  
  
Lila elbows Sabrina, “that was...”  
  
“Probably the nicest Chloé’s ever been to Rose. Aside from telling her, she deserves an award for finding so many shades of pink to never repeat one.”  
  
Lila hums. “I’d say this is a bit out of character for her but it’s not. Can’t imagine someone as gay as Chloé tolerating homophobia.” Sabrina nods in agreement.  
  
🦊  
  
Trixx got ejected from the pendant _before_ Marc returned to school so they got pretty scraped up, leaping over buildings one minute then plummeting to the ground the next.  
  
Trixx explained kwamis need food like any living organism, magical or otherwise, and that they hadn’t eaten in between transformations hence the ejection. (At least it got them de-transformed. Though next time Marc will appreciate if that happened while they are on solid ground.)  
  
Marc eats lunch in the courtyard because there are trees they can climb or sit under. Not to mention its solitary perks. Students complained it’s too much of a hassle for them to head all the way to the courtyard to eat lunch when they have that outdoor cafeteria type place.  
  
They were lounging in a tree sharing lunch with Trixx when someone called their name. As they tried poking their head out to see, Marc loses their footing and falls out of the tree and onto a redhead.  
  
“Glad to see you’re okay.”  
  
“Nathaniel?!” Marc scrambles off the poor boy then stands up to help up the redhead. “I fell on you. Are _you_ okay?”  
  
The redhead stretches then winces when something loudly cracks. “All good. I came to check on—” He gasps, “what happened to your face!?” Marc winces as Nathaniel grabs their face tracing over the bruise on the left side of the blue-haired teen’s face. “It looks like you got trampled! Oh wait, _you did_!”  
  
“I ran into a wall.” ~~Slid down a wall, more like but... semantics.~~  
  
“You—” Nathaniel sighs, “you’re a disaster.” Marc chuckles. “Did you go to the nurse?”  
  
Marc grabs Nathaniel’s arms lowering them from their face, “I’m fine.”  
  
“Are you sure? I’m not gonna apologize for caring about my partner.” Nathaniel kisses Marc’s bruised cheek and they wince. “O-Ooh. Did that hurt?”  
  
“A little. But it was sweet.”

“Marc, I’m... I’m sorry about not being able to save you earlier.”

“Don’t be. It was brave of you to try. I’m so lucky to have a boyfriend like you.” Nathaniel chuckles awkwardly then clears his throat. “So I—” Marc yelps then lets go of Nathaniel’s hands to grab the back of their neck. Trixx is muttering something but Marc can’t hear them.  
  
“What’s wrong?”  
  
“I think something stung me.”  
  
Nathaniel gasps, “l-like one of the bees? Should we go inside?”  
  
Marc’s eyebrows furrow before they shake their head, “no, no bee. And I guess it’s gone now. I was wondering if you wanted to join me?”  
  
Blushing, Nathaniel nods. “Don’t have any lunch though.”  
  
“My sister gave me more than enough to share.”  
  
“Does she have a match this weekend?”  
  
“I know she has a tag-team match with Anansi but I don’t know when. But, um, do you wanna watch with me?”  
  
“At the arena?” Marc nods. “I’d love to. Gotta admit, I’m.... scared to meet your sister.”  
  
“I’d be worried if you weren’t.”  
  
🦊  
  
Marinette is downright gobsmacked after watching Alya’s footage of Le Grand Paris, that was – once again – uploaded onto the TVi without her consent although this was more of Livestream’s power over electronics or cellphones in particular? (She didn’t get a chance to find out), sending everything to TVi as Alya recorded it than someone uploading it from somewhere else.  
  
 _Fēngbào_ appeared out of nowhere and took out the akumatization. As much as she wanted to help, Mme. Mendeleiev wasn’t allowing anyone out of her sight after losing Rose and that Marc kid to the Livestreamers.  
  
And Marinette didn’t experience any blackouts, not to mention Longg was in her purse the whole time. So she wasn’t involved... at all. And yet, Fēngbào was.  
  
The class was sitting on the sidewalk, away from any electronics, listening to Kim and Alix arguing, waiting for any kind of news to break when they saw a flying woman carrying Alya back toward the school.  
  
Alya said the hero created a duplicate of her mum so it’s possible they also created a duplicate of her—of Fēngbào to deal with the akumatization.  
  
Marinette doesn’t know if she can absorb electricity from outside sources but she’s gonna try. In a safe way. Like little bits at a time. Or maybe she’ll just ask Longg.  
  
Longg is on the desk, sitting on the empty plate of rolls they both tore through, jamming a spoonful of pudding into their mouth. Once the video ended, Marinette had a design idea she immediately began sketching. No one would look at her weird for making a dragon-themed purse when some students already started showing up with dragon accessories.  
  
“Longg, can I absorb electricity into my body?” With the spoon in their mouth, Longg nods.  
  
They pull out the spoon and scoop up another spoonful, “wouldn’t recommend doing it when you aren’t transformed though.”  
  
“Got it. _Wait_! I can do it not transformed!?” Longg nods shoving another spoonful into their mouth. “What about this fox hero that showed up today? Is their power creating duplicates?”  
  
“No. Duplicating oneself is the mouse kwami, Mullo’s, specialty. Trixx – the fox kwami – specializes in optical illusions. Having said that, creating copies has never been their M.O. in the past.” Longg picks up another spoonful, “but I suppose the situation called for it.” Longg stares at the spoon, “never in my history of working with them, however, have I seen illusions so... solid. Able to touch others without wilting. This generation of Chosens are... talented. It’s terrifying and exciting.”  
  
“Unfortunately, that includes Papillion and the Bee.”  
  
“The Bee... not so much. Not yet at least. Not from what I can tell. But yes to Papillion.”  
  
“What’s Trixx’s weapon? Matter of fact, what’s Papillion’s weapon?”  
  
“I can’t recall Papillion’s weapon but I know Trixx’s Intendeds wield a flute. Some of their Chosens actually learn to play it recreationally instead of just as a vehicle for making illusions. It’s really quite beautiful.”  
  
Marinette taps her chin, “if the Miraculouses are Chinese in origin, it must be a Chinese flute. A dizi, maybe? Or a gudi? Like how my sword is a zhanmadao."  
  
Longg blinks at her then narrows their eyes. “Should I be concerned you know exactly what type of blade you wield?”  
  
“No.” Longg continues to stare at her, “I play a lot of video games! Goblin Glitter Forge is based on a dystopian future Macau and Arizona fused city like San Fransokyo from Big Hero 6. My avatar is a blacksmith who makes her own weapons as well as sells them. I had to do _extensive_ research into all the weapons and their uses, since – you know – I make them. A zhanmadao is my off-weapon. In fact, all my swords are dao swords.”  
  
“I’m going to have to take a gander at your collection of video games, Mlle. Dupain-Cheng.”  
  
“I can play offline mode and we can play together. I have a spare controller.”  
  
“I’d— _hey_! You’re trying to butter me up!” Marinette laughs.  
  
There’s a knock on the floor before Sabine comes up. Marinette turns the swivel chair to the trap door. Longg gripping onto the chair’s back. “Something wrong, mā mā?”  
  
“The news just showed the remains of all the destroyed East Asian exhibits in the Louvre during Saturday’s senti-feather attack. The curator was in tears. Evidently, _all_ the East Asian exhibits were in the same corridor the senti-feathers tore through.” And they didn’t even have any Japanese exhibits. Marinette wasn’t certain how to get away to transform with everyone being so close. Kagami must’ve gotten her own kwami and figured Marinette out because she not only covered for Marinette but bought her time to transform, take care of the feathers, and rejoin the group. All without even looking _once_ in Marinette’s direction. (Huh. They have to talk about that. She also needs to talk to Longg to confirm.) She absolutely lucked out when it came to best friends. “I remember you saying you were visiting the Louvre with your friends on Saturday. I know I’m terrible to just be asking this _now_ but you’re okay, right? You weren’t caught up in the chaos, were you?”  
  
“Got out just in time.”  
  
Sabine sighs in relief. “Did you happen to take a look at the exhibits... before they were hit by magic feathers?”  
  
“I saw the Sì Xiàng but not the zodiac. Wasn’t better than the one in Guangzhou.”  
  
Sabine chuckles, “that was gonna be my next question.” As she comes fully in the room, Longg hides behind a stuffed animal on the desk. “And today? With the akumatization?”  
  
“Mme. Mendeleiev got us out of the school. Only one kid in my class managed to transform.”  
  
“I should’ve listened to mŭ qīn when she said not to move to Paris. Gentilly is a half-hour away and probably not crawling with evil magic.” Sabine sighs. “Anyway, I came up here for another reason. Tom calculated the total for everything. The expensive brands versus our normal brands, we’d still have a third of the money remaining if we used the most expensive ingredients we could find. I was thinking, it’s a movie premiere. We want the pâtissèries to scream movies. You’re our designer. What sort of decorations would that need?”  
  
“Ooh. I know just the ones!” Marinette turns to a new sheet of paper in her sketch book then begins sketching.  
  
🦊  
  
“Bonne après-midi, Paris. Alec Cataldi here. It’s noon on Wednesday, January 15th, 2020. We have our current, updated monthly list of akumatizations posted on the TVi website front page. The akuma slash amok alert app Nadja and I have been working on since the 20th of last month is once again delayed. This time due to the introduction of the drones – that’s what we’re calling the bees. We’ll keep you informed on our social media pages.”  
  
Akumatizations of the month:  
Mon, Jan 6th – Chloé Bourgeois/Larger Than Life  
Tues, Jan 7th – Adrien Agreste/Friendzoned  
Wed, Jan 8th – Fred Haprèle/Jokester  
Thurs, Jan 9th – Sébastien Brisbois IV/Chevalier  
<Sat, Jan 11th – Isolated Senti-feather attack at The Louvre>  
Mon, Jan 13th – Alec Cataldi/Livestream {First appearance of Guêpe Tueur’s drones (bees)}  
Tues, Jan 14th – Manon Chamack/The Magician  
  
The blonde hums as she checks the TVi page. “So they just post up who’s been akumatized monthly?”  
  
“The Order has reached a decision. Fù Wáng cannot be allowed to remain unchecked in the city, distributing Miraculouses at his leisure. He is set to be the Miraculous’ Keeper and we have no alternative to stray from the path.”  
  
“So find one. Paris is a shithole and it’s only getting worse. Fù had the right idea coming to help.”  
  
“Your personal beliefs play no part in this decision, Guardian Hombee.”  
  
“Noted, Guardian Guo.”  
  
“Your objective is to seize Fù Wáng and return him to the temple, as well as retrieving any and all Miraculouses in his possession.”  
  
“Uh-huh, and what of the Miraculouses he’s already handed out?”  
  
The blonde raises an eyebrow as the black-haired man on her phone screen sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Ancient texts state abruptly taking away a Miraculous from its Intended holder will result in an instantaneous death of either the holder or the taker.” The blonde whistles, “not to mention it’ll cause severe injury to the other. Furthermore, we cannot risk bringing attention to ourselves. To the Order. Fù Wáng is far too smart to casually hand out Miraculouses. He took those eight specific kwamis for a reason. All of their Chosens are in this city. Training under his tutelage, you will know his next move.”  
  
“In theory.”  
  
“This is directly from the higher-ups. ‘Unless the wielders Fù has found pose a threat to the Order or the mission, they are to remain unharmed.’”  
  
“What about Papillion and Guêpe Tueur? Surely, they pose a threat to the Order and the mission?”  
  
“I have receive no word about what to do about them.” The blonde sighs.  
  
 _“Flight 853 to Paris, France is boarding.”_  
  
“Well, my plane is boarding. I’ll speak to you when I land in Paris.” The man nods and the blonde ends the call then she scrolls through her contact list. She sends a text to M and another to Z before taking her phone off. Like hell, she’s gonna turn in Fù for doing something about this madness. At least she doesn’t have to shell out money to come to Paris and help.  
  
🦊  
  
“Mèlodie, you got a text from _C_ after the video ended. Didn’t read what the text said.”  
  
“Merci, Adrien. C is my older sister Camilla. She’s probably telling me she’s about to get on the plane here.” The blond nods handing Mèlodie her phone.  
  
Following Brisbois’ akumatization on Thursday, twenty girls joined the fencing team – much to the brunet’s horror. They declared themselves The Kagami Tsurugi Cheer Squad and only wanted to learn fencing from her, Mèlodie, or M. D’Argencourt.  
  
M. D’Argencourt started up a contest to design new fencing uniforms. Which generated more interest in the team.  
  
“No one is taking fencing seriously anymore!” Brisbois screams. “ _Cheerleaders_? Fancy uniforms!? M. D’Argencourt, you gotta let me back on the team!”  
  
“You should’ve thought about your position on the team when you assaulted one of your former teammates.”  
  
“I didn’t assault that bitch, she kicked me in the balls!”  
  
“Which you deserved. And if anyone is a bitch in this scenario, M. Brisbois, it’s you.” The brunet’s jaw drops. “Furthermore, Mlle. Tsurugi _kneed_ you, she didn’t kick you. There’s a difference. And if you ask me, you got off relatively easy.” The brunet glowers. “With the differences in your skill level, she should’ve pummeled you into dust.”  
  
“She’s not that much better than me!”  
  
“Let’s agree to disagree. You were akumatized which should’ve given you a significant increase in physical strength and yet you were still no match for her.” Brisbois balls up his fists. “I’ve allowed you to watch practice, don’t make me revoke that right.”  
  
“M. D’Argencourt?” He turns to the purple-haired girl hoisting her shoulder strap, “Mme. Mendeleiev said you were the one to talk to about a gymnastics team?”  
  
“Ah yes, I am. I’d be more than happy to support a gymnastics team.”  
  
“What about fencing?”  
  
“You don’t have to concern yourself with that, M. Brisbois.” The brunet grits his teeth. “Hmmm. I don’t recognize you, have you been skipping physical education?”  
  
“I don’t have you for phys ed... or well I _didn’t_ until I got transferred out of M. Babineaux’s homeroom to Mme. Mendeleiev’s.”  
  
“Ah. Then I expect to see you in class on Thursday, Mlle—”  
  
“Couffaine. Juleka Couffaine.”  
  
D’Argencourt blinks at her, “Couffaine? As in Anarka ‘Hellbat’ Couffaine?” Juleka nods. “Fascinating. Mlle. Couffaine, feel free to stick around for practice and ask if anyone is interested in joining your gymnastics team.”  
  
“M-My team?”  
  
“You brought it to my attention, it’s your team.”  
  
“Right.” She gives him a two-fingered salute then walks off.  
  
Sabrina loudly gasps, “ _Chloé, what are you wearing_!?” Juleka looks over and her eyes widen as she sees Chloé Bourgeois in the bleachers taking off her jacket revealing her autographed rainbow Kitty Section sweater.  
  
“A birthday gift. After singing for me and getting them famous, I’m entitled to half of the group’s royalties.”  
  
Lila laughs, “you know it doesn’t work like that, right?”  
  
Sabrina squints at the sweater. “‘Canine,’ ‘Princess Two-Paws,’ ‘Bombay.’”  
  
“Must be the members names.” Lila muses. “You know, they might not need you to get them famous considering Clara Nightingale brought them to sing for you.”  
  
“The only thing better than one celebrity endorsement is two.” She puts her earbuds in, “let me know when Adrikins is up.”  
  
Juleka sighs as she maneuvers through the throngs of people. She can’t do this. She can always do gymnastics on the houseboat.  
  
A bag flies in Juleka’s direction and she catches it easily. “Nette, are you okay?”  
  
Chloé laughs (obnoxiously) from the bleachers.  
  
She recognizes Kagami because the whole school knows who she is now – with her wielding kitchen knives to save everyone’s asses at Chloé’s birthday disaster, then her kicking some former subpar fencer’s ass _without even seeing him_. And she recognizes the orange-haired girl, Alya, from her starring role with Livestream on Monday.  
  
But even if she didn’t know all that, she knows them from her and Luka’s trip to the Louvre on Saturday.  
  
Juleka walks over to them as Kagami, Alya, and another unfamiliar girl help the blue-haired girl, Marinette, up. “You dropped this.”  
  
“Merci.” She takes her bag, “I’m so damn clumsy it’s not funny.”  
  
“It’s part of your charm.” Alya tells her. “Wanna sit with us?”  
  
“S-Sure.” They wave to Kagami as she heads to the changing room. Her “Cheer Squad” greet her and stand guard by the changing room as Kagami walks in.  
  
“They’re serious about this cheer thing, huh?” Marinette asks.  
  
“They were gonna call themselves The Kagami Tsurugi Protection Squad but everyone knows Kagami doesn’t need protecting so they decided cheer was better.”  
  
“I’m a little surprised Kagami is okay with all the attention. These same girls were self-proclaimed ‘til death’ Adrien Agreste fangirls a week ago.”  
  
“It goes to show we’re all capable of a little growth.” Marinette snorts, “and if you ask me, it’s one hell of an upgrade.” The unfamiliar girl giggles. “I mean, don’t shoot the messenger and whatever but what is with everyone’s obsession with that guy?”  
  
“An acquired taste?” Marinette replies with a shrug, “don’t really get it myself. When I first saw one of his ads on the plane I was struggling to understand why so many people were squealing.”  
  
“Wait!” The unfamiliar girl furrows her eyebrows, “y-you two don’t even think Adrien Agreste is _objectively_ pretty?”  
  
Marinette and Alya turn to each other. “I forget, objective is when we don’t care or when we do?” The former asks.  
  
“Uh, I believe it’s when we don’t?” The latter replies.  
  
The unfamiliar girl nods in agreement then turns to her, “I’m Mylène.” She introduces.  
  
“Juleka.”  
  
“To answer your question, Ly. I met Adrien _after_ I met Kagami and her beauty and badassery did de-fangirlize about forty ‘die-hard’ Double-A fans. I’m guessing it made me immune to whatever spell he had those girls under?”  
  
“Same.” Marinette adds. “But you know what boy _is_ pretty?” Marinette bats her eyelashes at Juleka, “how’s your brother doing?”  
  
Juleka busts out laughing, “guess we don’t have to worry about if talking about how hot your brother is makes you uncomfortable.” Alya ruminates. “Because he is hot. In case I need to mention.”  
  
“He is but I mean, what did you say to me the other day? Blessed be those with great genes?”  
  
Alya nods sagely. “Genetics was super kind to your folks for making some pretty-ass kids.” Juleka blushes rubbing the back of her neck. “Speaking of beauty...” Alya digs in her backpack and pulls out an envelope, “you’ll never guess who hand-delivered this to me~” Juleka looks at the envelope first, then Mylène, and lastly Marinette. “You can open it.”  
  
Marinette hands the envelope to Juleka who slowly opens it. “No way.” The purple-haired teen gasps, “using the mayor’s seal for an invitation feels like an abuse of power to me.”  
  
“You didn’t hear? Mayor Bourgeois outlawed Fēngbào because of what happened at...” Mylène sighs, “ _You Know Who’s You Know What_ last week. We are way past power abuse.”  
  
Marinette does a double take, “come again?”  
  
“My papa told me about it when he spoke to Officer Raincomprix on Friday. Police’s orders straight from the mayor: Fēngbào is to be arrested on sight!”  
  
“That’s why the police showed up at school Thursday after that dick was akumatized?”  
  
Mylène nods then blushes. “I-I wish I would’ve seen it.” The three of them stare at her. “K-Kagami and the akumatization, I mean.”  
  
“Oh. That. I got you, Lyna. I recorded it.” Alya taps her chin, “speaking of which, we need to give you a nickname. Kagami said it’s practically criminal for friends to not give one another nicknames.”  
  
“She’s paraphrasing, of course.” Marinette elbows Alya. “But we do need to give you a nickname, Juleka.”  
  
“Luka already calls me Jules.” Juleka shrugs. “There really aren’t that many directions one can go with my name.”  
  
“Jules it is then.” Marinette announces, “welcome to the collective. The rules are simple: we adhere to the best friend code. We never go anywhere unless the whole squad looks and feels their best.”  
  
“We’re here to uplift one another. If one of us has a problem, the rest of us gotta provide support.” Mylène adds.  
  
“Hugs are only non-mandatory if you’re uncomfortable with them.”  
  
“Nette loves her hugs.” Alya says nodding.  
  
“My family’s very tactile! Not like yours isn’t...” She elbows Alya who laughs. “Also, you’re invited to a sleepover at my place on Friday.”  
  
“And a movie premiere the same night.” Alya rubs her hand together, “make sure you pack your evening wear.”  
  
“W-We’re gonna...” Mylène looks around, “ _crash_ the movie premiere?”  
  
“It’s not crashing if I have an invite that doesn’t specify whether or not I’m allowed to bring guests.” Alya grins.  
  
Juleka puts her hand in front of her, “I’m in.”  
  
“Yes!” Marinette puts her hand on Juleka’s. Grinning, Alya puts her hand on Marinette’s.  
  
“I-I don’t know.”  
  
“You don’t have to, Mylène. We’d never force you to do anything you’re uncomfortable with.”  
  
“True, but I’d hate to be the only one at your place while the rest of us are at a fancy party.” She takes a deep breath, “what the hell. Something like this will likely never happen again. Especially if we manage to succeed. Let’s do this.”  
  
🦊  
  
“Wednesday afternoon, we discovered someone is capable of becoming the same akumatization if they become akumatized again. As with the case of me, my first akumatization was a blur. I have no recollection of it. However, I saw pictures. My most recent akumatization I was _obsessed_ with finding out the biggest— _oh_.” Nadja frowns, “I’m sensing a pattern here. Why are all the newscasters turned into individuals obsessed with finding out secrets and gossip?”  
  
Fù mutes the television as there’s a knock on his door. The kwamis sidle along the wall away from the door as Fù walks to the door. He can’t see out the peephole but Mullo can. While the other kwamis are trying not to peek, Mullo looks through the peephole – looking at a brown eye – they move back and shrug at Fù before joining the cluster.  
  
Fù opens the door as much as he’s able with the chain. “Fù Wáng.”  
  
“Camilla Hombee. I expected you’d be by a little earlier.”  
  
“Had to make a detour.” A grinning blonde, closer to his eye level, waves.  
  
“One moment.” Mullo closes the door then removes the chain and Fù opens the door. Camilla presses her left middle and index finger against the door and chants an incantation as she closes the door. “Who might this young lady be?”  
  
“Mèlodie Charles. I’m Camilla’s half-sister, and a fellow Miraculous holder.” Fù and Mèlodie shake hands then a brown horse kwami flies out of her Chosen’s jacket.  
  
“Salutations, Guardian.” The kwami bows. “It’s been a while.”  
  
“It has, Kaalki. It certainly has.” Fù agrees. The other kwamis crowd and happily embrace Kaalki.  
  
“Fù, The Order wants me to bring you back to the temple. They claim to have no backup to be the Keeper.”  
  
“They don’t.”  
  
“Huh. Gotta admit, thought they were bullshitting on that.”  
  
“What do they plan on doing about the Miraculouses I distributed?”  
  
“According to Guo? The wielders are to remain unharmed unless they get in the way. He also said they can’t take the Miraculouses without killing the holders or the one who takes the Miraculous. And rather than worrying about not killing, he’s more concerned about letting the Order become noticed.”  
  
Fù massages his temples. “I see.”  
  
“I sensed a Miraculous in the airport. It was brief... but it was there.”  
  
“I sensed two Miraculouses among my schoolmates.”  
  
“It appears that the whole cluster I have are schoolmates of yours.”  
  
“Seriously?” Mèlodie sighs, “I’m the youngest in my cluster by at least a decade and everyone here is the same age?”  
  
Camila scoffs. “At least your cluster is _alive_ and a – waiting for reincarnation or b – too young to be introduced to the Miraculous’ power.”  
  
“Master?” The kwamis float back over to Fù. Tikki is hovering in front of the others, “I-I wasn’t expecting _Wayzz_ of all kwamis to go off on their own. Not gonna lie.” The other kwamis nod in agreement. “I suppose what I’m wondering is... when are we gonna meet our Intendeds? Surely, it’s not gonna be when one of them is in danger, is it?”  
  
Fù shakes his head. “I normally would’ve liked to give them more time to get used to their kwami’s magic before introducing new kwamis to them. But I’m afraid we may not have the time. We don’t know how long Mlle. Hombee can buy before the Order realizes she has no intention of aiding them.”  
  
“I never, like, hid the fact that I supported you, Master. Also, Zola is on our side. She says she’ll come to the city as soon as she’s able.”  
  
“That’s excellent news.” Fù sighs, “we need some good news.”  
  
“I have a simple solution, Guardian Fù. Borrow my portals. Bring the Intendeds inside. It’s practically guarantee they won’t die with all of us in there as well.”  
  
“ _Practically_?!” Orikko repeats, incredulously, flying to Kaalki’s face. “I don’t want my Intended to _die_ before I get the chance to meet her!”  
  
“Why don’t you unpuff your feathers, Flappy.” Orikko bristles, “I don’t hear you coming up with any ideas.” Tikki holds Orikko back.  
  
“Enough. Kaalki, I don’t want estimates. Either they will 100% survive being in your portal _with no ill-effects_ or we find another way.”  
  
The horse kwami huffs, “they’ll be fine, Master.” Fù opens his mouth, “they will be completely and perfectly safe in my portal. They’re children, are they not? I would never hurt a child Intended... unless they were evil and my hand was forced.”  
  
Fù shakes his head with a sigh, “that will have to suffice.”  
  
Orikko glares at Kaalki. “Anything happens to my Chosen’s cluster you’ll be sorry.”  
  
Fù walks over to the cane against the wall and picks it up, pressing the button underneath the handle.  
  
🦊  
  
Marinette Dupain-Cheng falls out of her bed when she hears a voice comes out of her _chapstick_.  
  
Kagami Tsurugi breaks her meditation when her swiss army knife pops open and starts talking.  
  
Marc Anciel was dozing off and snaps awake when their pen begins to glow then speak.  
  
The three of them simultaneously cautiously move toward their items to hear them better.  
  
The voice, belonging to a Fù Wáng, asks to meet them – transformed – at Tour First at Midnight.   
  
🦊  
  


Trixx hovers around. “You cannot tell the boyfriend about me, Kit. I lost count of how many times I had to stop you from blabbing!”  
  
“I know. I have all the bruises to prove it.” Marc sighs, “why can’t I tell Nathaniel? I don’t like hiding things from him.”  
  
“I understand that and it’s admirable, but having your lover involved in the magical world when they don’t possess magic of their own is dangerous. You can’t always be there to protect him.” Trixx sighs, “I’m entwined with your soul, Kit, it would break your heart if Guêpe Tueur or Papillion or the peafowl’s wielder used Red against you.”  
  
“They still could, without him knowing.”  
  
“A... fair point.” Trixx groans, “damn you for bringing logic into this.” They sigh, “ _alright_! Let’s just... meet with the Master and see from there.”  
  
Marc nods, “work your magic, Trixx.”  
  
The fox kwami flies into the pendant. Marc’s body turns orange then pulses. An orange and white bow-shaped domino mask slots over their eyes. An orange fox suit with a white belly covers their body and a long orange coat covers the suit. Fox ears shoot out of their now orange hair which grew long enough to fit itself in a ponytail that looks eerily similar to their tail. And the coat’s tails don’t cover their bushy orange tail with the white bow-shaped end. All white boots and gloves complete the outfit.  
  
Making sure there are no drones, feathers, or akumas nearby, Marc jumps from their apartment building roof to Tour First.  
  
By the time they arrive, Fēngbào and a Turtle are just casually sitting on the slanted roof.  
  
“Welcome.” A portal opens behind Fēngbào. The three of them exchange glances before a horse kwami comes out of the portal. “Come on.” Then they fly back into the portal.  
  
“Why the hell not?” Fēngbào says before walking into the portal. The Turtle walks in behind her with a shrug then Marc walks in and it closes behind them.  
  
Walking _out_ of the portal, the three of them are upside down. Six other kwamis float up (down?) to them.  
  
“Welcome to my portal. I’m Kaalki, kwami of spatial manipulation, pleasure to meet you.”  
  
“Likewise. Why are we meeting in your portal?” The Turtle asks.  
  
“Because there’s nowhere in Paris or even in La Défense that isn’t covered with ears... or the magical construct equivalent. I have absolute control in my portals and the only things inside are things I allow inside.” The horse claps their hands together, “introduction time. Don’t be shy.”  
  
“My name is Tikki, I’m the kwami of chance.” The red and black spotted kwami introduces.  
  
“Stompp.” The navy blue ox kwami bows, “kwami of sonokinesis.”  
  
“Sass, kwami of opportunity at your service.” The teal snake kwami says.  
  
The grey mouse kwami grins. “Mullo, Master Fù’s partner, and kwami of replication.”  
  
“Plagg.” The black cat kwami salutes, “kwami of wreckage.”  
  
The yellow-orange bird kwami sighs, “kwami of stealth, I’m Orikko.”  
  
“Now your turn. Names, please. Not the ones outside the suit, unless you’ve already figured that out.”  
  
Fēngbào and the Turtle exchange a glance before turning to Marc. “If you know me, I don’t know you.”  
  
“I know her identity but not yours.”  
  
Fēngbào scratches her head, “uh, same. I know her but not you. Let’s stick with transformed names then. I’m Fēngbào. It means—”  
  
“Storm in Mandarin.” Fēngbào blinks at them, “I’m half-Chinese on my late papa’s side.”  
  
“You have no idea how happy I am to hear that! Not the _late_ papa part, I’m sorry for your loss but—I...I could just hug you.” The Turtle grabs her by one of her buns. “Just a little hug.”  
  
“Hugs can wait.” Fēngbào turns to air to escape the Turtle’s grasp then reforms around Marc to hug them. “That is a gross misuse of your abilities.” Fēngbào sticks her tongue out. The Turtle sighs, “I’m calling myself Ricochet. I don’t know the Chinese equivalent and using... another language would most likely give me away.”  
  
Fēngbào releases them but remains in hugging distance. “Ah. You have a point. I was gonna think of something H—from another language. I guess I’ll stick with either French or Chinese.”  
  
“What can you do? Perhaps if we all put our heads together we can come up with a name.”  
  
Marc nods. “I can create illusions but I don’t want a name that gives my powers away.” They wince, “sorry, Fēngbào.”  
  
“Don’t be. I named myself after my favorite comic book superhero, who I just so happen to have similar powers to. The Miraculouses are Chinese in origin so I just went full-throttle being half-Chinese myself.” She pauses, “may I ask why you went with ‘Ricochet?’”  
  
The Turtle frowns, “trying to use my shell offensively resulted in that effect. Repeatedly. It was either that or Pinball.” Her frown deepens.  
  
Marc brings their left fist over their right palm. “I got it! Nǚ Wū.”  
  
Fēngbào’s eyes light up, “I love it! It’s tricky. You can claim your illusions are just a form of magic. And it’s not like anyone would _know_. Plus, it’s half-true. I mean, all are powers come from our kwami’s magic.”  
  
“I don’t understand any Chinese language, yet, what does it mean?”  
  
“Witch.” Fēngbào replies. Ricochet smiles with a nod. “Alright. _Wait_. I don’t know what you can do.”  
  
“Neither do I. I’ve only been trying to use my shell shield. My kwami, Wayzz, says my powers are defense and protection. Needless to say, I am not a very passive person. There is a cruel irony in me having this Miraculous.”  
  
“I think I can help you protect offensively.”  
  
“You can? I’d appreciate any assistance.”  
  
Marc unclips the flute from their waist. “wait!” Fēngbào interrupts. “Protecting offensively defeats the purpose of protecting!”  
  
“Not necessarily. American Football has offensive and defensive linemen. The offensive linemen protect the quarterback, the defensive linemen stop the offensive linemen. Of course, there are nuances in defensive linemen positions: defensive end, defensive tackle.” Marc glances at Fēngbào who shrugs. “Each defensive player tries to stop their offensive alternate while looking for opportunities to steal the ball away.” They both stare at her. “My point is: Protecting isn’t all about defense much like how attacking doesn’t always correlate to offense. I’d be useless if all I did was protect everyone else without protecting myself. I’d always be the one who gets knocked out first.”  
  
Fēngbào gasps, “like a support always in the backline! You’re healing the team but no one is looking out for you!”  
  
Ricochet _blinks_ at Fēngbào. “I can explain, I speak gamer. Supports are healers. In most scenarios they stay in the back or ‘backline’ to avoid the enemy head-on but sometimes – most of the time more like, the enemy flanks from behind getting the support first cutting off your team’s source of healing. Although, with your powers you’d be more like a tank; a defender. Tanks charge the enemy and cap the point because they have more health and shields and stuff.”  
  
“I... actually understood that. Except for ‘capping the point?’”  
  
“Capturing the objective.” Fēngbào translates.  
  
“Well...” The three of them turn to Fù. “You three seem to be hitting it off.”  
  
“Master!” Ricochet and Fēngbào exclaim.  
  
“Ricochet, was it? Can you apologize to Wayzz for me? They were patiently waiting for me to bring you two together but I changed the plan last minute without stating why. Communication is of the utmost importance and I broke the most cardinal of rules.”  
  
“I’m certain Wayzz will forgive you, they’ll also be grateful to hear you aren’t upset with them.”  
  
“Master? Are the bee and butterfly in the same cluster?” Fēngbào asks.  
  
“No. None of the kwamis in use are of the same cluster.”  
  
“Would it matter if they were?” Marc asks.  
  
“Given their abilities, no. It honestly wouldn’t. There’s more. Papillion is the butterfly’s Intended. The peafowl is not. As for the bee, I cannot tell.”  
  
“What do you mean you can’t tell?” Fēngbào asks.  
  
“There are situations in which even the kwami can’t tell off the bat which family member their Chosen is. Souls of close age siblings are sometimes difficult to discern.” Tikki explains and Stompp nods in agreement. “Sometimes the siblings’ souls are compatible and sometimes they are not. We don’t know with the bee.”  
  
“Will drawing them out give you the answers you seek?”  
  
“Let’s not take unnecessary risks.” Tikki responds. “While the bee’s wielder this, Guêpe Tueur, is seemingly new at this the peafowl and Papillion are not. And let’s not forget we know nothing of the peafowl’s holder. Other than the fact that they should not be with Duusu.”  
  
“Then what’s our plan here?” Ricochet asks.  
  
“The ‘plan...’” Plagg begins, “was to see if you three would get overwhelmed by meeting multiple kwamis at once. As you three are still standing, _alive_ , we can see that bit was successful.”  
  
“My kwami did tell me introducing a new kwami to my body would kill me.” If Ricochet is surprised by this piece of information she isn’t showing it.  
  
Fēngbào nods, “my kwami told me that too. What does this mean then?”  
  
“It means your cluster is stronger than I originally thought.” Kaalki replies, “my portals are in place to shield you from magic your bodies can’t handle but now I see it’s not necessary. You are young yet I do not know if your ages play any factor in this.”  
  
Fù hums, “nevertheless, I will take necessary precautions as I distribute the remaining Miraculouses in my care, in case there is a latent reaction. I will begin in two days, then every two days until the remaining five Miraculouses are with their Intendeds. You must inform me if there is any side effects.”  
  
“You mean like us turning into animals?”  
  
“Like how you transformed into a full dragon?” Ricochet asks.  
  
Fēngbào shakes her head, “evidently, we’re gonna develop animal tendencies thanks to our kwamis.”  
  
Ricochet taps her chin. “Fascinating. I need to do some research on turtles...”  
  
“I’m not gonna grow fox ears when I’m not transformed, am I? That’ll be a bit hard to explain to my sister.” (And even harder to explain to Nathaniel.)  
  
“No, you will not grow fox ears. At the very most, your teeth will elongate into canines.” Marc’s jaw drops. “Your kwamis will explain. I will contact you all in two days.”  
  
Kaalki throws open three portals, “these will take you directly to your homes. No peeking at the other portals. Fēngbào, yours is on the right. Nǚ Wū is the center one and we need to chat with Wayzz so, once the other two are gone you can drop the transformation and go in your portal.”  
  
“I’m not going anywhere without my partner.”  
  
“Ooh.” Kaalki rubs her hands together, “I love the ferocity and protective instinct coming from you. Such a strong turtle you’ll become! You may stay.”  
  
“Good luck, Ricochet.” Marc and Fēngbào tell her before going in their respective portals. She nods at them watching the portals close behind them.  
  
🦊  
  
“Attention masses!” Chloé announces, via megaphone, walking into the classroom, “against my better judgment, Adrikins is inviting you all to his movie premiere tonight. It’s a black-tie event for Paris’ glamourous, so I swear if any of you come as you are or don’t meet the dress code you’ll be stopped at the door and given an outfit _you must return_ when the premiere ends. I can easily acquire access to where you live, don’t make me hunt you for my Agreste® brand clothing..” The blonde begrudgingly goes up the aisles handing out invitations.  
  
Alya holds up her invite, “I already got one.”  
  
Chloé’s eyes widen as she snatches the invite out of Alya’s hand, “Audrey personalized this. _How do you have it_?”  
  
Alya snatches the invite back, “why don’t you ask your maman?” She waves Chloé away. Marinette chuckles then holds out her hand.  
  
The blonde’s right eye twitches as she puts the invite in the blue-haired teen’s hand. “Wow! An invite? You shouldn’t have!”  
  
Chloé wordlessly goes to the next desk as they chuckle to themselves.  
  
The next few people seem genuinely thankful for their invites.  
  
Kagami’s making her way to the classroom when Adrien pushes himself off the wall. “B-Bonjour, Kagami.”  
  
“Bonjour Adrien, whatever you’re lingering around here to ask me just get it over with.”  
  
“R-Right.” He holds out the envelope he had behind his back, “I’m inviting the class to my movie premiere tonight. I thought it would be good to have some familiar faces.”  
  
Kagami hums, “makes sense. Unfortunately, I cannot attend, I have plans tonight.”  
  
“Oh...” Adrien’s face falls, “okay then.”  
  
Kagami awkwardly pats him on the shoulder, “best of luck to the success of your movie.” Then she walks in the classroom.  
  
Adrien sighs. “That was pathetic.” Félix takes the invite out of his cousin’s hand. “I wouldn’t be surprised if she just told you that to get away from you.”  
  
“Kagami wouldn’t do that.”  
  
“You’re right. If she flat out didn’t wanna go, she would’ve flat out told you she didn’t want to go. I had three different scenarios already in my head with her rejecting the invite but this wasn’t one of them.”  
  
Adrien takes the invite back and enters the classroom.  
  
“Did you get your invite yet?” Marinette asks as Kagami sits down next to her, “Chloé handed them out.”  
  
“To Adrien’s movie premiere?” Marinette nods, “you’re going? What about the sleepover?”  
  
Alya turns around in her seat, next to Juleka, in front of Marinette and Kagami, then facepalms. “I _knew_ there was something I forgot to do!”  
  
“You didn’t tell her?” Alya shrugs with a smile. Marinette sighs. “The sleepover is still on. We’re just going to the premiere too. Alya originally wanted us to crash it because she got her invite on Monday from Audrey Bourgeois herself but then when Chloé came in the class she announced Adrien wanted us all to be there so we got invites.”  
  
“Adrien personally tried to hand-deliver one to me outside the classroom.” They watch the blond take a seat in the front of the classroom and put his head down. Kagami’s eyebrows furrow. “I don’t wish to be a ‘spoilsport’ and ruin your plans but I have no desire to attend the movie premiere.”  
  
“ _No_ desire?” Juleka repeats.  
  
Kagami shakes her head, “none. I will go to the boulangerie pâtissèrie to wait for you. I’m certain I will find something to do to pass the time.”  
  
“Help yourself to any of my video games. Oh shit. Wait. My parents are catering. _Oh_! Duh. Easy fix. I can give you the key.” Kagami nods her appreciation. “Okay, so we gotta address this because – I don’t wanna sound like a jerk – but it’s becoming sad. You’ve expressed _numerous times_ you have no interest in Adrien in any way, shape, or form yet he keeps trying to—I don’t even know what! It’s like it goes in one ear and out the other. He gets the kicked puppy look and pouts for like a half-hour before he’s right back to being all in your space.”  
  
“Rejection flies over his head. You gotta kick his ass.” Juleka suggests.  
  
“ _No_.” Marinette gives her a stern look.  
  
“Uh, _yeah_. True story. It happened to Luka. Once...” She frowns gesturing for them to come closer which they do, “once we formed Kitty Section, Luka got like _tons_ of fanmail and stalkers. There was this one dude who wouldn’t leave him alone. Showed up at the docks because they heard we practiced on a houseboat. The guy kept shouting about how he and my brother were meant to be together. A restraining order didn’t work. Telling the guy flat out didn’t work. Finally, after a couple of other fans came together and beat the guy’s ass, he got it through his thick skull.”  
  
“ _You’re_ Kitty Section?!” Marinette whispers.  
  
Juleka nods. “Me, Rose, and Luka. We’ve been looking for a drummer since we started up about a year ago but haven’t found one yet. Luka and Clara Nightingale used to date so that’s why we got the hook up at Chloé’s party. Besides, she really didn’t wanna be there. Plus, my brother owed her a favor.”  
  
“Are you going as...” Alya looks around, “ _you_ or... you.” She waggles her eyebrows.  
  
“I’m going as Juleka. It’s been a little hard to practice with Rose flat out avoiding me.”  
  
“That’s another issue that needs to be addressed.” Alya leans back as do Marinette and Kagami, “Has she even been in school since Monday?” Juleka shakes her head. “I fortunately grew up in a household where all love is accepted. Buff women are totally what I want and aspire to be like. I wanna be _jacked_ , with a capital J, no bullshitting.”  
  
“If you’d look anything like your sister I’m onboard with that.” Alya high-fives Juleka. “I want muscles too but I don’t wanna be overly jacked just like semi-jacked. Lowercase J.”  
  
“I face the same issue. Fencing has given me definition in my arms but nowhere else. I’d have to take up running or something to evenly distribute my muscles.”  
  
Juleka’s eyes light up, “what about gymnastics? I-I was thinking of starting a club? It was Luka’s idea. The school doesn’t have one so he said to talk to someone about it. I spoke to M. D’Argencourt and he said he was onboard.”  
  
“Gymnastics might be just what I need. And if it’s run by the fencing teacher they won’t have a scheduling conflict. I accept.”  
  
“Hells yeah. My legs are gonna be _so_ toned!”  
  
“I’m too clumsy for gymnastics.” Marinette sighs heavily, “but I’ll support you three all the way.”  
  
“Girl, all the best gymnastics moves were invited by klutzes. You have to join!”  
  
“I don’t know how to respond to that—”  
  
“ _What do you mean you don’t wanna attend Adrikins’ movie premiere_!?” Chloé’s shrill voice bellows. The four of them look up at the top of the classroom where a redhead and blue-haired kid are at their seats with Chloé holding out the invite. “Do you have any idea how much of an honor this is?”  
  
“We have plans.” The redhead replies, blushing.  
  
“‘Plans!?’” The blonde repeats, outraged. “Are you—What possible ‘plans’ can be more important than a once-in-a-lifetime invite to a movie premiere for a movie starring **Adrien Agreste**!?”  
  
“We—”  
  
“It’s none of your business.” The blue-haired kid replies.  
  
“ _What_!?”  
  
“Chloé, let it go.” Lila says from her seat (hiding her amusement). “If they don’t wanna go it’s their loss.”  
  
“Damn right it’s their loss! You should be grateful!” She looks around the classroom pointing. “You should all be _grateful_ Adrikins has such a big heart! If it were up to me I wouldn’t bother inviting _any_ of you to something as important as this but for reasons that escape me your meager appearances mean a lot to him and there is nothing I wouldn’t do for my Adrikins!” Chloé’s eyes narrow, “I don’t know what it is with you damn pretty blue-haired kids pissing me off. ‘None of my business.’ Some fucking nerve. That’s the last time I try to be nice.” She grumbles stomping to her seat.  
  
Kagami blinks, staring a bit longer at the duo, before turning back to Marinette, Alya, and Juleka. “Have I seen that blue-haired kid before?”  
  
“That’s Marc Anciel. We were in M. Babineaux’s class together before the switch. They’re real cool. Total comic book nut and member of the art club. Livestream’s cronies tripped them up on Monday.” Juleka replies. “They’re dating that redhead. I think his name is Nathaniel? He’s in the art club too.”  
  
Alya gasps, “that’s Reaper’s sibling!” Juleka, Marinette, and Kagami stare at Alya. “Reaper, the pro-kickboxer?” They continue to stare. “Nothing? I guess I have an obligation to follow the kickboxing circuit. Reaper and Anansi have a tag match next weekend against Ghost-Ties and Firebird. Reaper’s so damn pretty and they look just like her.” Alya stands, “must. Be. Friends!” She runs up the staircase before anyone can stop her.  
  
Mylène walks into the classroom then up the stairs to where Juleka is sitting. “Did I miss anything?”  
  
“I can’t believe it’s taken me so long to meet you. Reaper told me about her sibling and that they went to François Düpont and I looked but I never found you.”  
  
“Y-You’re Anansi’s sister!” The redhead blurts out.  
  
The _entire_ classroom looks up at them. “N-No way!” Chloé shrieks. She gets up from her desk and _stares_ at Alya, leaning forward so she can stare directly into the orange-haired teen’s face. “Holy shit! Y-You _are_! No wonder she was here when you were kidnapped by that akumatization!”  
  
“W-Wow.” Adrien appears out of nowhere. “S-She’s my favorite kickboxer. Favorite athlete, really. Do you think she would come to the movie premiere?”  
  
Alya stands, all smiles. “I’ll ask her on one condition.”  
  
Adrien’s eyes light up. “Name it.”  
  
“You—” Marinette covers Alya’s mouth.  
  
“This is a surefire way to get him akumatized.” She whispers. Alya mumbles her reply and Marinette shakes her head. “Pull him aside and do it with less people around.” Alya huffs and rolls her eyes with a nod then Marinette releases her and walks back down the staircase.  
  
“You and I need to have a chat, Agreste. _Now_.” She grabs Adrien by the collar and pulls him down the stairs. Everyone watches them go and Alya closes the door behind her.  
  
“What’s—”  
  
Alya puts a hand on his mouth, “shut up and listen, Pretty Boy. You should be grateful to Marinette for having me not doing this in front of everyone. Man, you need to leave Kagami the hell alone. Full stop. And I’m not asking. Also, I’m not asking my sister jack until you do this.”  
  
When he starts mumbling, she moves his hand. “I haven’t done anything to Kagami.”  
  
Alya covers his mouth again. “Wrong answer, man. I don’t care that you’re on the fencing team together. I don’t care that we’re all classmates. Kagami. Doesn’t. Owe. You. Anything. You understand? _Anything_. Not friendship. Not courtesy. Not a greeting. Not. A. Fucking. Thing. You of all people should know better, man. I _know_ you’ve had obsessed fans – not even including the ones in this school. You are acting just like them!” She moves her hand with a huff, “what do you have to say for yourself?”  
  
“N-No, I’m... _no_ —” Adrien’s eyes widen, “oh no! I _am_! I am just like them! I-I just wanted to be her friend so bad. She’s so amazing and beautiful and...” He takes a deep breath, “I-I can’t believe it.”  
  
“Well, you’d better believe it, bub.”  
  
“My parents always told me to go for what I wanted and to never give up until I get it.”  
  
“The hell? I don’t know nothing about your parents but I _hope_ —I sincerely hope—they didn’t mean _people_ when they told you this.”  
  
“They might’ve...” Adrien sighs, “how could I have not realized my horrible behavior?”  
  
“Dude, sad to say your scummy behavior is totally acceptable in your lifestyle. Might even be encouraged. I mean, not only what you told me but...” Alya jerks at thumb at the door then pantomimes a pair of sunglasses on her head.  
  
“Oh no!” He puts both hands on his head, “no wonder no one wants to be friends with me. I really am just like Chloé.”  
  
“That’s debatable. Look. It’s not my job to hover and call you out on your bullshit, Agreste. You need to buck the hell up and do better. And don’t think being a decent human being is a good way to get Kagami’s friendship either.”  
  
“Right. No one owes me friendship, even if we’re on the same team. I-I...” He sighs, “I’m the worst.”  
  
“Again, debatable.”  
  
“I need to apologize to her.” Alya nods in agreement, “I can’t take back being half a conversation away from becoming an obsessive stalker but I can learn from this and grow. And damn do I need to do some serious growing. Merci beaucoup, Alya.”  
  
“Yeah, yeah. Our other option was to have Kagami kick your ass until you understood.”  
  
Adrien blushes as he rubs the back of his neck, “y-you don’t mean in fencing, do you?” Alya smiles at him then walks in the classroom. Adrien’s blush deepens. “Huh. I-I think I might’ve actually _liked_ that.”  
  
🦊  
  
“You want me to go to Adrien Agreste’s movie premiere?”  
  
Alya jams as many clothes into her backpack as it could fit. “He’s a fan. Go figure.” Nora watches her little sister run to the toiletries on the bathroom counter, picking up a bottle of orange and peach bodywash in one hand and a vanilla and blackberry in the other. “I said I’d ask and I’m asking. If you don’t wanna go, don’t go. Simple as that. Oh and by the way, I met Reaper’s sibling today. We’re in the same class now.” She’s about to put the orange and peach bodywash into her bag when Nora grabs it out her hand.  
  
“That’s mine.”  
  
“Like you don’t use my stuff?” Nora glowers but puts the bottle back in Alya’s hand.  
  
“You know you’re only going to Marinette’s place for two days, right? How many outfits do you need?”  
  
“I have the outfit I’m going in.”  
  
“Which you should be _wearing_.”  
  
Alya glares. “The outfit for the movie premiere. Pajamas. One for each day. And an all day lounge outfit for Saturday. Then an outfit to come back in. I didn’t over pack.”  
  
“Why do you need two pairs of pajamas? Have you ever had a sleepover before?”  
  
“With us moving around so much because of our parents’ jobs? No, I haven’t.”  
  
Nora pats her on the head. “You poor thing. I’ll tell you everything I know.”  
  
“How could you have had sleepovers?”  
  
“First off? Fix that tone. Secondly, sleeping at my girlfriend’s place totally counts as a sleepover.” Alya gives her a look, “it does. Anyway, sex stuff aside. You’re gonna need the lounge outfit. You’re right about that. As for the movie premiere outfit, wear that so it doesn’t get wrinkled in the bag. You only need _one_ pair of pajamas but make sure they’re cute. Since you don’t need the outfit to go in, get rid of that. But you’ll need the outfit to come back in. You’ll need the sleepover essentials: toothbrush, pillow, teddy bear – because I know you still sleep with one and you’re thirteen so it shouldn’t be a big deal, what else...?” She taps her chin. “Makeup, because – you know – movie premiere, toiletries. I know you like going commando at home but don’t do that at your friend’s place.”  
  
“Yeah, I packed underwear.”  
  
“ _Wait_! You don’t do that at school, do you?”  
  
Alya shrugs, “sometimes. Not like anyone would notice.”  
  
“True. Just hope you don’t get your first period when you’re not wearing underwear because _that_ will suck. And yes I’m speaking from experience.” Alya nods with a hum, “not my _first_ but, you know, one of ‘em. A few of ‘em.” She sighs, “dump the bag and we’ll pack it together.”  
  
“Are you being so nice to me to get rid of me?”  
  
“ _Please_ , ma’s off tonight – I’m guessing because of the movie premiere. Getting rid of you does nothing. Not like I can bring anyone over with ma, Etta, and Ella here. I just want you to have a better first sleepover than I did.”  
  
“You told me your first sleepover was amazing! You trashed a racist teacher’s home. Got to drive without a driver’s license. Had an insane game of truth or dare. Made out with your crush—”  
  
Nora waves her off, “and I want you to have a _better_ time than I did. You’re friends with an incredible up and coming designer, and one badass fencer who can fuck people up without seeing them – and let me tell you if I was just a few years younger, I’d be all over that.” Nora clears her throat. “Was that it? Were there more?”  
  
“There are two more now, Juleka and Mylène. A singer and well I don’t know what Mylène does yet. And three with Marc, Reaper’s sibling. Marc’s a writer. They’re not coming to the sleepover or movie premiere because they have a date with their boyfriend but they said they’d stop by on Saturday.” Alya’s eyes widen, “ooh. That reminds me. I had an extra outfit in case we decided to go out on Saturday.”  
  
“I think I have a fancy outfit. I’m going to the movie premiere with you.”  
  
“You have something evil planned, don’t you?”  
  
“Not evil. More like neutral. Just a fuck-you to a former asshole coach who is a _huge_ Gabriel Agreste fan.”  
  
“ _Gabriel_ Agreste?”  
  
Nora rolls her eyes then facepalms, “he’s a world-renowned fashion designer? You’ve never heard of Agreste® brand?” Alya shakes her head, “have you heard of the international actress Émilie Graham de Vanily?” Alya blinks at her. “Why are you going to this movie premiere?”  
  
“I originally wanted to go to crash it but that plan kinda got shot to hell when Adrien invited the whole class. I got the invite from Audrey Bourgeois on Monday after giving ma her lunchbox. She called me pretty then gave me a personal invite. Not that I give two shits about what anyone in Chloé’s family thinks about me. However, curiosity had me look her up. She’s like a big deal in the fashion world. They call her ‘The Queen of Fashion.’ On record, there’s only a handful of things she’s ever called beautiful. She’s like Miranda Priestly only bitchier. I need to get the footage from the hotel.”  
  
“I can help with that.” Nora gives her a thumbs up, “but I’m gonna need a little help.” She takes out her phone and scrolls through her contacts. Her phone rings then the blue-haired woman accepts the video call with a curling iron in her hand. “Bonsoir Ruby!”  
  
“Nora?”  
  
“Rubes, I—” Nora and Alya tilt their heads, “what are you doing?”  
  
“Curling my precious baby sibling’s hair. We’re experimenting with the level of curliness they need for their date tonight. What’s up?”  
  
“I need a favor. There’s a movie premiere my kid sister is going to.”  
  
“Ugh.” Ruby rolls her eyes, “I know about this fucking movie thing. Some brat harassed my precious angel.” She cracks her neck, “I’ll unleash all three fighting styles I’ve mastered if need be. _No one_ messes with my sibling—”  
  
“Rubes, the curling iron.” Ruby stares at the curling iron in her hand then frowns and takes a deep breath. Using it on her sibling’s head in front of her. “Audrey Bourgeois called my thirteen-year-old sister beautiful and we need that footage.”  
  
Ruby clicks her tongue. “Hold on a sec. It wasn’t a pedo thing like the principal of François Düpont is it? I worry about my precious angel face in that place.” There’s a groan and mumbled words on Ruby’s side. “Excuse me? Are you telling me _not_ to be worried?” Whatever the response is they can’t hear it. “I’m your older sister it’s literally my prerogative to worry about you!”  
  
“Rubes.”  
  
“I’m here. I hear you. I’ll do it. After I meet Marc’s boyfriend and scare him shitless.” She cackles.  
  
“Don’t do that, Ruby!” Marc pleads.  
  
“What kind of pro-kickboxer and older sister would I be if I didn’t?” The camera moves showing Marc facepalming before it moves up to Ruby’s face. “These things are super fancy dressed, right? I’ll need to coordinate the right outfit that screams sexy but trying to play it cool.”  
  
“Close friends are supposed to get each other’s opinion on their OOTD.”  
  
Nora stares at Alya, “their _what_?”  
  
“OOTD. Outfit of the day.” Alya replies.  
  
“Ooh. I know just what I wanna wear. Let me show you. Marc, come on and bring the phone!” The phone moves showing the ceiling before Marc’s face.  
  
“I apologize for my sister.”  
  
“Are you kidding? I love Rubes.”  
  
“I love you too!” Ruby yells.  
  
🦊  
  
“Welcome!” Gina opens the doors. “How come you’re not dressed up like the others, Limone?”  
  
“I’m not attending the movie premiere, Mme. Dupain.”  
  
Gina taps her chin, “oh? Well, I’m sure there’s a little bit of trouble the two of us can get into here.” She winks at Kagami. “Everyone is upstairs. Just follow the laughter.”  
  
“Merci, Mme. Dupain.” Kagami bows before hoisting her bag over her shoulder and entering the building. She takes her shoes off as she reaches the staircase then walks up the stairs. Once she reaches the second floor she looks around then sees Mylène climbing down a ladder near the window.  
  
“Oh.” Mylène waves. “I’m gonna grab Mme. Gina for something. Go ahead upstairs.” Then she walks down the stairs.  
  
Kagami looks up at the ladder before climbing. “Kagami!” Everyone greets.  
  
She sets her bag down by the other bags before sitting on the empty chaise. “Not too late to change your mind and get in on the chaos.” Marinette says.  
  
“I’ll pass.”  
  
“It’s not because of Adrien, is it?” Juleka asks, “because we can always follow through with the plan to kick his ass.”  
  
Kagami chuckles then shakes her head, “I appreciate that, but that’s not it.” She gives a one-shoulder shrug, “as much as I’d like to dress up with the rest of you, my heart is not in returning to Le Grand Paris so soon.”  
  
Juleka groans. “Ugh. I know how you feel. By the way, why were you there? I can’t imagine Chloé handing you an invite to her birthday. I was only there because of Luka and I was in costume.”  
  
“It wasn’t my idea to go. My maman received an invite because the Agrestes wanted to go over shady business propositions with her. She declined, naturally, and they sent mediocre Japanese and French fused cuisine as an apology.” Kagami sighs. “That place gives me a headache.”  
  
“Me too. I don’t know how Luka can work there. Food was real good, though. No wonder they asked your folks to cater again. They oughta be careful, one of Rose’s papas became their personal dentist because – and I quote – he is the best in the biz.”  
  
“I can’t tell my parents to do poorly so Chloé’s family won’t hire them.” Marinette frowns, “Then again, I feel like I need to at least warn them. Oh. But it wasn’t Chloé’s parents who hired them. It was some Ami lady.”  
  
Mèlodie’s jaw drops. “Ami—y-you don’t mean Amélie Graham de Vanily, do you?”  
  
“I think so?”  
  
“She’s like a world famous actress like her twin sister Émilie Graham de Vanily! She’s Adrien’s maternal aunt and like Chloé’s godmother or something. It might as well have been Chloé’s family to hire yours.”  
  
Kagami looks around the room. It absolutely screams Marinette, even if it seems a bit unfinished. “Where is Alya?”  
  
“Her sister decided to come so she’s gonna take her along with Marc’s sister, Ruby, when the premiere ends – or lets face it I doubt we’ll be there all night – Nora’s gonna drop Alya off here.”  
  
Juleka yawns, “I think Kagami’s got the right idea by skipping.”  
  
Marinette taps the purple-haired girl on the shoulders. “Nope. Too late. You’re already dressed.”  
  
Mylène returns with Gina, “you all look so lovely! We need pictures!”  
  
After taking pictures, Gina takes the girls to Le Grand Paris with the backup delivery van.  
  
“Mari— _oh_.” Kagami blinks at the old man furrowing his eyebrows at her. “I’ve seen you here before.”  
  
“I’m Kagami.”  
  
“Roland.” They continue staring at each other then Roland jerks his head behind him. “I’m too old to be hanging on this ladder.” Kagami gets up from the chaise and follows Roland down the ladder then down the stairs to the first floor. “Are you the fencer girl or the picture girl my granddaughter ‘gushes’ about?”  
  
“Fencer, Monsieur.”  
  
“You’re awfully polite for a thirteen-year-old. You’re even humouring me with conversation.”  
  
“I was brought up to respect my elders.”  
  
“Even when they disrespect you?”  
  
“I admit I... missed that lesson.”  
  
Roland barks out a laugh, “you got a good head on your shoulders. Lord knows my spacey granddaughter needs that.” He gestures around the kitchen. “My son left food for the sleepover. Help yourself.”  
  
“Merci.”  
  
🦊  
  
“Chloé! Mlle. Bourgeois, over here! Who are you wearing?”  
  
“Gabriel Agreste, duh.” The blonde flips her hair as she walks in the hotel. She only wears her hair up in a ponytail at school because they don’t deserve the full extent of her beauty, or maybe they _didn’t_. Now she might have to rethink her stance. “Oncle Gabriel!”  
  
“You look lovely, Chloé.”  
  
“Of course I do. You designed the dress and I’m the perfect model for it.” She looks him over, regarding his bright blue suit. With... are those peacock feathers on his tie?! And a tacky feathery brooch on his pocket? He usually sticks with more muted tones so this is a step up in... some direction. And not necessarily a good one. “Where’s Tante Émilie?”  
  
“Where else? Fiddling with Adrien’s outfit. I’m sure they could use your help.”  
  
Chloé salutes him. “I’m on it.”  
  
Sabrina enters the hotel with a heavy sigh. Gabriel approaches the orange-haired girl. “Mlle. Raincomprix.” Sabrina looks up at him.  
  
“Oh, O-Oncle Gabriel. That suit...” Her face goes through about ten different expressions in the span of three seconds before she looks up at him with a forced smile, “I like the color.” Then she excuses herself and scurries off.  
  
“Why isn’t Mercy here?”  
  
“You gave her the evening off, Madame.” Audrey massages her temples.  
  
“I need beautiful people at this event. That woman is easily one of the most beautiful I’ve seen in my life. I don’t want her here for work, I want her in her best evening wear! _Make. It. Happen_!” The kitchen staff nod and salute her for some reason before running toward the kitchens.  
  
Audrey grabs a drink off a tray and downs it in one gulp. Gabriel approaches her with a chuckle. “Have you come to rub it in my face, M. Agreste?”  
  
“Please don’t tell me you hired Marlena Césaire because you thought she was beautiful?”  
  
“I hired her because she’s possibly the best chef in the world. Her being beautiful is a nice perk.” Audrey looks around. “Speaking of which... why do I see _average_ people – and children to boot – in my lobby?”  
  
“Adrien invited his classmates.”  
  
“Pardon?”  
  
“Believe me, I’m just as surprised. I could understand Aurore, Sabrina, and Chloé; I can even understand Mlle. Kubdel, but he invited his _entire_ class.” Audrey looks around, “what’s wrong?”  
  
“Where did the drink tray go?”  
  
“Why are we here again?”  
  
“Because we gotta play nice with the Bourgeois’.” Roth replies waving at the cameras, nudging his son into the hotel. “If you marry their daughter, we can be set for life.”  
  
“You know she’s a big ol’ raging lesbian, right? Plus, even if she wasn’t, she’s too young for me. I’m gonna be eighteen in a few months and she just turned fourteen.” Roth snarls, “what? I’m just—”  
  
“Not that. Well...” Roth shakes his head then jerks a thumb behind them. “ _That_.”  
  
“Jagged Fucking Stone. What’s he doing here?”  
  
“I’m about to find out.” XY facepalms as Roth walks toward Jagged Stone blowing kisses to the fans and his hot assistant fondly shaking her head. “Jagged!”  
  
Before he can hug the purple-haired man, a tablet gets slammed in his face. “Restraining order, M. Roth.” The assistant hisses.  
  
“What happened to water under the bridge?”  
  
“There isn’t enough water in the Seine to fit under that bridge, Rothie.” Jagged discreetly flips him the bird before he puts his arm around his assistant’s shoulder and enters the hotel.  
  
“That miserable little piss-ant. _No one_ makes a fool of Bob Roth!” XY rolls his eyes as he leads his father back into the hotel.  
  
When Lila walks up the red carpet, she smiles and shows off her all black Gabriel Agreste dress (that she hates but was forced to wear) before walking into the building. She spots some classmates but not the ones she’s looking for. She overheard Kagami was ditching the movie premiere (if only Lila could do the same), and that Alya verbally bitchslapped some much-needed sense into Adrien. (But doesn’t know what was said.) She also overheard a bunch of people were going to Marinette’s but she didn’t find out why and before she could invite herself over the school day ended.  
  
She photobombs several Jagged Stone pictures before looking for a place to insert herself. Her mamma said to take plenty of pictures so Lila takes some ~~, hoping to find something to send to TVi~~.  
  
She zooms in on her camera as a _bee_ flies into Bob Roth’s sunglasses that are sitting on top of his bald head.  
  
Amélie Grammar del Whosits has a fucking tiara on her head as she and her twin sister pose for the cameras. The woman on the left excuses herself as the paparazzi ask about her missing ex-husband. Adrien’s mamma, Émilie, waves to her and Lila returns the wave.  
  
Adrien miserably slinks out of a room and turns up that model smile a thousand volts as the cameras descend upon him. An idea hits her like a two-by-four and Lila sidles up to Adrien in the middle of the picture taking. “There you are!” She exclaims loudly kissing him on the cheek.  
  
“What are you doing?” He whispers.  
  
“Generating interest.” She whispers back. “Come on, Adrikins!” She internally shudders. “Don’t wanna be late to your own premiere!” She leads him away from the cameras. “I hope you’re not still moping.”  
  
“What else can I do? I’ve been terrible and I can’t even apologize.”  
  
Lila rolls her eyes, “it’s physically impossible for you to do any wrong, Adrien Agreste. You’re Paris’ Sunshine Boy!” He just sighs. Oh well. It’s better than him being a doormat. ~~Moping gives him a bit of personality.~~  
  
She pushes him into the theater room but stops as she hears the crowd gasp. They turn around and see _Anansi_ dressed to the fucking nines alongside _Reaper_ dressed equally snazzy and in the middle is Alya. (So Lila follows kickboxing circuits, sue her. It’s full of hot, buff women who kick ass. Who in their right women loving mind wouldn’t follow them?)  
  
Adrien’s jaw drops. “Alya looks... amazing.”  
  
Alya’s wearing a royal blue a-line dress with red ribbons on the hem and a big red ribbon in the back holding a Sailor Moon purse. “Mademoiselle, who are you wearing?”  
  
“My best friend Marinette Dupain-Cheng _made_ this! She’s wearing a floral red and pink cheongsam style peplum dress _she also made_ , so be on the lookout for her.” She gives the cameras the peace sign with both hands.  
  
Gabriel Agreste eyes the orange-haired girl with the expertly stitched dress. A _child_ made that? That’s impressive. When the girl comes in the hotel, the professional kickboxer bodyblocks her. He knows a bit about the kickboxing circuit thanks to Adrien and Chloé. “Something I can do for you, Monsieur?”  
  
“I was going to ask that young mademoiselle some questions?”  
  
“That’s my kid sister and I don’t care if you’re Gabriel Agreste or one of the kings of France. Don’t just think you can waltz up to my thirteen-year-old sister looking at her like I won’t work on my roundhouse kicks on your face.”  
  
“I respect your protective instinct. I have a fourteen-year-old son that I too would engage in physical violence to protect.”  
  
Anansi looks him up and down – and Gabriel has to admit the intimidating tactic is working. “Als.” The girl turns around and squints up at him. “This is Gabriel Agreste.”  
  
The girl, to her credit, looks wholly unimpressed. “So you’re responsible for Adrien?”  
  
“I’m sorry?”  
  
She sighs, “forget it. What do you want?”  
  
Gabriel clears his throat, making a mental note to talk to his son about what he could’ve done to this girl, “I was wondering if I could ask questions about your dress? You said your best friend made it?”  
  
“Why do you care?”  
  
“I’m a fashion designer. I’d like to speak with her.” He – maintaining eye contact with the professional kickboxer – takes out a card from his suit pocket. _Another_ kickboxer comes out of nowhere and takes the card then waves, clearly dismissing him. He adjusts his lapels then walks off.   
  
Gabriel grabs his nephew as he’s walking in the opposite direction. “Oncle?”  
  
“Félix, who is that girl? With the orange-hair?” Félix looks over his shoulder.  
  
“You’re referring to my future wife? That’s Alya Césaire. Beautiful, isn’t she?”  
  
“ _Césaire_?” Gabriel doesn’t dare to turn around. The professional kickboxer did address the girl as her younger sister, and André informed him Marlena Césaire had several daughters. Having a shiner won’t look good on camera, and people thinking he’s a pedophile will look even worse. Where the hell is his wife? She’s better suited for this sort of thing.  
  
Alya’s ominous winky face text didn’t prepare Marinette for the cameras asking her questions about her dress and her making Alya’s. She answers the questions as best she can without her nonna getting out of the van and bludgeoning anyone. Gina was just sitting in the van, parked across the street, with her fingers tapping against the steering wheel.  
  
Mèlodie distracts the cameras talking about her old-school Gabriel Agreste dress while Juleka and Mylène pull Marinette into the hotel.  
  
“You got your name out there.” Mylène gushes. “This is great!”  
  
“Yeah. Great, and terrifying.”  
  
“When did you even get time to make the dress Alya is wearing?” Juleka asks.  
  
“I made it a while ago. When Alya and her papa came over for a delivery yesterday she picked it up and said that’s the dress she’s wearing to the premiere.”  
  
“Damn. We should’ve all wore something you made.”  
  
Marinette waves her arms frantically in front of her, “ _no, no_! You didn’t have to. It’s fine.”  
  
“I’d love to see more of your work, Marinette.” Mylène squeals. “Maybe we can even put on a fashion show!”  
  
“M-Maybe.”  
  
Juleka takes her phone out of her purse and stares at it, “Luka says you look good.”  
  
Marinette looks around. “Luka’s here!?”  
  
“Nah. He’s watching the premiere live on TV and saw you.” Juleka turns her phone to Marinette. How could a simple thumbs up emoji make her blush? “My maman wants to know if you can make her a pirate jacket...” Juleka turns her phone back to her staring at it, presumably reading some texts. “Sorry. Scratch that. She needs a whole ensemble.”  
  
“I, uh, have never tried making pirate clothes before but I’d love to give it a shot.”  
  
“ _You_!”  
  
“Oh for fuck’s sake.” Marinette sighs turning to Chloé stomping toward her. “What do you want?”  
  
“This is **Adrikins’** movie premiere, you have some goddamn _nerve_ making this about you!”  
  
“Right. Right.” Marinette rolls her eyes, “as if you didn’t try making this event about _you_ in school today? Or even a few minutes ago bragging about your last season’s Gabriel Agreste dress? Give me a break.”  
  
Chloé growls. “Security!” An officer practically manifests out of nowhere. Chloé points at Marinette, “unauthorized personnel is in the building. Escort her out.”  
  
Marinette laughs, “oh wow. Really? You sure as hell are petty.”  
  
“And don’t you forget it.” The blonde snaps her fingers, “did you get hit by a freezing akuma? Why is she still here?”  
  
The officer straightens up then clears their throat gesturing to the doors, “mademoiselle?”  
  
“I’ll go. _I’m_ not interested in causing a scene.” Chloé narrows her eyes and folds her arms over her chest. Adrien runs over to her watching Marinette, Juleka, and Mylène turn around and walk toward the lobby exit.  
  
“Wait! What the—? Chloé, what the hell are you doing!?”  
  
“What does it look like? I’m protecting you. Protecting your family’s brand. Your blue-haired _buddy_ only showed up to show off her obviously handmade dress.”  
  
“She _made_ that? It’s beautiful.” Adrien shakes his head, “Marinette, wait!” He runs toward her. “Don’t go.” Marinette raises an eyebrow at him. “You don’t have to leave.”  
  
“Like hell she doesn’t! She’s obviously using this event—”  
  
“I don’t _care_ , Chloé! I want her here. Please, don’t go.”  
  
Marinette _smiles_ at him and his heart flip-flops. “Sorry, Adrien.” She narrows her eyes at Chloé. “I didn’t realize how much Chloé’s movie premiere—” She puts a hand over her mouth, then mock gasps, “oh, that’s right. It’s not _her_ night. Maybe you should let her know that?”  
  
Chloé harrumphs as they leave, “good riddance.” She tries to grab Adrien’s arm but he moves out of reach. “Adrikins?”  
  
“I’m going home.”  
  
“You’re bailing on your own movie premiere?”  
  
“Oh? Is that what I’m doing? I could swear this was _your_ night. Because that’s how you’ve been acting.” Shaking his head, Adrien walks out the hotel.  
  
Chloé’s left eye twitches, “that....she thinks she can turn my Adrikins against me? She’s got another thing coming.” She takes a deep breath, “I can’t get akumatized. I need... to remain... calm.” She takes several deep breaths before walking toward the theatre room.  
  
🦊  
  
“The answer is obviously Wisconsin. I’ve spent some time in North America around die-hard American Football fans.”  
  
Kagami bites her chip in half, discreetly giving the other half to Wayzz in her hoodie pocket. The buzzer on the television goes off. _“‘What is Wisconsin?’”_ The contestant replies.  
  
 _“That is correct!”_ The host replies enthusiastically.  
  
“And this is not an episode you’ve seen already?”  
  
Roland laughs, “gimme a little credit, Kid. An old man like me won’t remember.”  
  
“You keep using your age as a deflection tactic.”  
  
“Slipped my mind how sharp you are. Gotta try something else then.”  
  
“So you have seen this episode before?”  
  
Before Roland can reply, the front door opens. Roland and Kagami exchange a glance before getting up and heading to the boulangerie pâtissèrie. Gina starts swearing in Italian as she angrily paces the floor.  
  
“Alya, _don’t_. Just... just come over.” Marinette says into her phone that has Alya’s pissed off face on it.  
  
“Are you sure? I’ll start a scene and finish all the acts, Girl. Just say the word.”  
  
“She’s not worth it.”  
  
Alya massages her forehead. “Worth it or not, I’mma get her ass in school on Monday. You better believe that. See you in a bit.” Then Alya hangs up the video call.  
  
“What happened? You were barely gone an hour.”  
  
“Chloé happened.” Mylène huffs, “she... she can’t keep getting away with this! I’m so angry I could get akumatized for it!”  
  
“Easy, Mylène.” Juleka rubs her shoulders. “Don’t give her the satisfaction. Chloé had security kick Marinette out of the hotel, and there was no way we were staying without her so we left too. At least social media is on Marinette’s side.” Everyone turns to Juleka, “someone recorded the entire thing. Luka sent me some texts.”  
  
Marinette’s eyes widen taking out her phone. “#MarinetteIsNotWrong is trending all over the boulangerie pâtissèrie’s Instagram and Twitter accounts! _Oh no_! My parents are gonna freak out!”  
  
Everyone else takes out their phones. “Your parents are on their way.” Gina says, “and, yes, Fragola they are ‘freaking out.’”  
  
Marinette puts her hands on her head. “Listen to this!” Mylène reads, “‘I recall Chloé Bourgeois wearing that exact same @Agreste® brand dress at the hotel’s annual charity event last summer!’ #MarinetteIsNotWrong. It’s from Alec Cataldi’s Instagram account! @AlecCataldilive&live.”  
  
“I have a post from Jagged Stone!” Marinette screams. “@JaggedRocsWithTheCroc says, ‘Any kid that talented doesn’t need to use a bland movie premiere to get her name out there.’ ‘It wasn’t even worth @AdrienAgreste®Brand’s time.’ #MarinetteIsNotWrong. #CommissionsforMDC.”  
  
“@Anansi started that hashtag.” Juleka says, “‘my kid sister is wearing an MDC exclusive. Want one of your own?’ #CommissionsforMDC. #MarinetteIsNotWrong. #DefyW/Dupain-Cheng.”  
  
Marinette facepalms, “I was joking with Alya about that being my brand name...” She mutters. “I can’t believe she told someone else about it. Let alone her very well-known, influential older sister.”  
  
“@ClaraNightingale wants a dress like Alya’s.” Juleka reads on. “She tweeted it’s ‘more than just perfect.’ #CommissionsforMDC. #DefyW/Dupain-Cheng.”  
  
Gina hugs Marinette, “Fragola, you did it! You’re not a true celebrity until a poser kicks you out of a party!”  
  
“And she would know. You truly are her granddaughter.” Roland mutters shaking his head. “Congratulations.”  
  
Marinette screams jumping up and down as everyone group hugs her jumping with her.  
  
“Wait!” Juleka pulls out from the hug, “everyone shut up! There are a couple tweets from @GabrielAgreste®Brand.” The others collectively gasp as they separate but stick close to Marinette. “#MarinetteIsNotWrong. ‘Mlle. Bourgeois’ dress is indeed from last year’s fall collection. But it isn’t the same one she wore for the charity event.’ @AlecCataldilive&live. ‘Someone with such a keen eye would unquestionably make it in the fashion industry.’ #CommissionsforMDC. #CollaborationswithMDC #rawtalent.” Juleka whistles. “Oh snap. _Someone’s_ getting akumatized for that.”  
  
“Chloé’s Instagram and Twitter accounts, @YouWishYouCouldBeChloéB, have your hashtags trending on them too. But she has not responded to anything yet.” Mylène says with a sigh. “You gotta make a social media account for your brand now, Marinette.”  
  
“I-I don't know how!” Marinette’s phone buzzes a text from Nora saying they’re outside. “Alya’s here.”  
  
Marinette opens the door. Nora picks her up and hugs her. “#rawtalent? That fucker stole my idea.” She puts Marinette down and holds her hand out for a fist bump Marinette all too happily complies to. “You did good, MDC. _Personally_ , I wouldn’t’ve taken the high road. I would’ve laid that brat out no matter what social media told me.”  
  
“I would’ve taken the high road _and_ beat her ass.” The beautiful blue-haired woman states. “And before you say something. Yes, it is possible to be both professional and petty. It’s kind of my trademark. Ruby Anciel.” She grips Marinette’s shoulders as she cheek kisses her. “My Marc knows how to sew, in case you need to hire a temp. They’ve patched up my uniforms more times than I can count.”  
  
Marinette chuckles then pauses, “wait... where’s Alya?”  
  
“On the phone, in the car.” Nora and Ruby simultaneously reply.  
  
Marinette thanks them then walks to the car parked on the curb. Alya is in the backseat of the yellow Anansi-themed convertible with her glasses off pinching the bridge of her nose with one hand and holding her cellphone with the other. “Ma, I’m fine.” She exhales deeply. “No, we left. I didn’t even see her.” She nods. “no, no. I got what I came there for.” She nods again, “okay. Love you too. Call you tomorrow.” Taking another deep breath, she hangs up.  
  
Marinette’s leaning on the car door, “you okay?”  
  
Alya sits up and one-arm hugs Marinette, “I’m good.” She sighs. “No, I’m not good. I’m pissed. You should’ve at least let me throw a glass of water in her face.”  
  
Marinette laughs, “nah, I would’ve wanted to be there for that. Alya, I don’t know if I should be but I... I’m really happy you’re so upset on my behalf. It means a lot. I’ve never had a friend like you before.”  
  
Alya bumps their foreheads together gently, “same. I’d kill for you, Marinette Bǎo Dupain-Cheng.”  
  
“I hope it never comes to that, but I’d kill for you too Alya Césaire. Hold on. What’s your middle name?”  
  
“Thamina.” Marinette hugs her tight. “We gotta ask Kagami what her middle name is.”  
  
“Definitely.” Marinette slackens her hold. “I don’t think we’d ever get the opportunity to kill for Kagami though, she’d beat us to the punch.” Alya laughs then puts her glasses on.  
  
As Alya gets out of the car, grabbing her bag, and they head to the building they see Kagami standing outside the boulangerie pâtissèrie. “I came to check on you.” Alya laughs hugging her. “I guess this means you’re alright now?” Alya nods against her shoulder.  
  
“I’m great! I fucking love you guys!”  
  
“We fucking love you too!” Marinette chimes in joining in the hug.  
  
When they enter the boulangerie pâtissèrie, everyone is crowding around the television holding their phones. “What happened?” Kagami asks.  
  
“An akuma attack at Le Grand Paris.” Gina replies. “Looks like you got out just in time.”  
  
“I am Limelight!” A voice yells on the television. The akumatization looks similar to Livestream except they’re bright green and not sparking, “the only relevant piece of news! Hashtag _that_ , peasants!”  
  
Marinette sighs, facepalming, and Kagami just shakes her head.  
  
“Do you think it’s Chloé?” Mylène asks.  
  
“Don’t think so.” Juleka replies. “Check it out.”  
  
She points at the television where Chloé is in plain sight tied up in a bright green rope with her mother, Gabriel Agreste, Jagged Stone, Clara Nightingale, and Alec Cataldi. “Fēngbào, I had nothing to do with this, I swear!” Chloé cries.  
  
The lights suddenly cut out on the television. They think the broadcast ends but they still hear Limelight’s voice. “was I too bright for you, Dragon Girl? You’ll give me your Miraculous as penance for— _ow. What the—!? Oh sh—_!” There’s a series of loud thuds causing everyone in the boulangerie pâtissèrie to wince at each one.  
  
When the lights cut back on, bright orange briefly before returning to normal. The camera is on the floor tilted upward on a very pissed off Nǚ Wū is holding their dizi over an unconscious Bob Roth with several welts on his head. “I saved _for months_ to get in that château.” They grumble stomping out of the camera’s view.  
  
“Badass.” Alya cheers. “It’s that fox from the other day!”  
  
“A fox? Awesome.” Juleka whistles.  
  
Kagami and Marinette exchange a glance.  
  
🦊  
  
It took every ounce of willpower and magical ability to keep a moving, talking clone of themselves with Nathaniel after a quick TVi warned civilians about an akuma attack at Le Grand Paris.  
  
 _Maybe_ they took their frustration out on that akumatization but, like they said, those château tickets were not cheap and being interrupted was not on schedule. Plus, it was Bob Roth – who _hasn’t_ wanted to beat his ass? With Nathaniel being so artsy (and so adorable when he got excited), Marc wanted to surprise him.  
  
Marc lands in a tree beside the château. Making sure the cost is clear, they blow on their flute softly enough so only the clone will hear it. “Take a bow, Trixx.” They mutter once the clone goes behind the tree. Trixx floats out of the pendant, and Marc drops to the ground where the clone was just standing.  
  
“Not bad, Kit. Not bad at all. And you got everything your clone did while you were out busting an akuma’s skull.”  
  
“Just like Naruto’s clone jutsu. Just glad Nathaniel didn’t kiss my clone. I would’ve hated to get that indirectly. Say, do you think I could send my clone to school for me?”  
  
“When you get better at it? Sure. That’s what I’d do if I were a human.” Marc giggles as they go back in the château. Nathaniel is looking at a black fox painting in awe.  
  
“Teumessian fox.” A black-haired woman explains approaching. Nathaniel turns to her, “Greek mythology.” She turns to Marc. Her eyes—the pupils are cat-like slits.  
  
That’s... not normal. As if to prove their point, Trixx _hisses_ inside their hood.  
  
She continues to stare at Marc then her eyes for the briefest of seconds flit down to their neck before looking back at their face. “Destined to never be caught. Or so the legends state.”  
  
“Do you... work here?” Nathaniel asks, discreetly grabbing Marc’s hand.  
  
“This is my château. I love foxes, they’re so... interesting.” She hands Nathaniel a business card of Mme. Fox with a purple fox on it. When he tilts the card to the left then back it looks like the fox is galloping. “I’ve always found it rather... curious I was gifted with my surname.”  
  
“Weird coincidence.”  
  
She chuckles ominously, “‘coincidences’ are what the non-believers will claim for things they don’t care to understand. Magic is all around us, Young One.” She sing-songs as she walks away.  
  
“Nathaniel...?”  
  
He blinks at Marc, “s-sorry. I don’t know why I felt like I needed to protect you from her. N-Not that I don’t think you can protect yourself! Because you can! Because you’re a amazing and.... and... I’m gonna stop talking now.”  
  
Marc squeezes a now blushing Nathaniel’s hand. “You’re amazing too.”  
  
Trixx is one of two kwamis, they know personally, that can turn invisible – the other being Orikko who doesn’t do it through an illusion but through powers Orikko herself doesn’t fully understand. (Why does Orikko get to have multiple powers in one anyway!? How is that fair!? Why did they get to be claimed as “Divine Beasts” while Trixx got the much lamer, not to mention more restricting title of “Trickster?”) They stare at the “Fox” lady staring at Trixx’s Intended. With the powers over deception, they can see through glamours. (Something, Trixx senses, their little Kit is beginning to develop. And rather quickly to boot.)  
  
Miraculouses are far from the only source of magic in the world but Trixx didn’t think they’d have to deal with anything else on top of all the Miraculous related crap they’re already dealing with.  
  
Great. Now they have to talk to the Master and let him know fucking spirits are running loose in the city.


	5. cause for shellebration

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ever since the movie premiere, Adrien hasn’t been on speaking terms with Chloé, which Chloé intends on resolving during their class trip. But of course nothing is ever that simple, is it?

Kagami suppresses a wince as she sits in the chair. Beside her, Marinette yawns.  
  
Kagami was able to enjoy her first sleepover to its full extent with a weekend free of akumas, amoks, and other magical constructs.  
  
Then Monday morning – before school – burst her bubble. Nǚ Wū made quick work of the akumatization _Little League_ by clubbing him over the head with their one-of-a-kind baseball bat illusion. Kagami may not know their identity but she has to admit, she likes their style. You wouldn’t think one granted with powers of subterfuge would be so hands-on.  
  
It was Tuesday, after school, that Ricochet made her (public) debut. Alya’s papa, Otis, got akumatized after some kids from a different, nearby collège dared one another to poison the zoo animals to get “Internet famous” during their field trip. If dealing with a man who could shapeshift into any animal on a whim wasn’t bad enough, he had a menagerie of amoks in his corner.  
  
She barely got to recover from that clusterfuck when a new evil Miraculous wielder made their presence known yesterday evening. A woman dressed as a monkey beat the ever-loving shit out of the three of them. She had them beat in strength and size and her ruyi jingu bang could both temporarily paralyze and transform itself.  
  
Unlike her evil counterparts, _The Monkey Queen_ worked solo. No constructs to conjure or control.  
  
And as she hadn’t created or destroyed anything – there was nothing to fix after she fled. Although it was... peculiar why she left when she clearly had the advantage. She could’ve stripped them of their Miraculouses and called it a day before supper time.  
  
Maybe she just wanted to make a statement?  
  
 _Or_ kicking their asses was all she could do? Wayzz told her if someone who isn’t meant to have a Miraculous gets one it can cause adverse reactions because they aren’t compatible. If that’s the case, The Monkey Queen could’ve exhausted herself during the brawl. She may have bested them but they didn’t make it easy for her.  
  
Even the increased strength and durability her Miraculous granted, didn’t stop the bruises from forming. According to Wayzz, they weren’t acquired magically so they weren’t going to heal through magic. Soaking in an ice bath helped but the relief was temporary.  
  
Master Fù contacted the three of them on Saturday stating Nǚ Wū’s kwami, Trixx, found _spirits_ freely roaming the city the night before. This delayed Fù’s decision to hand out the remaining Miraculouses in his care. But after hearing of them being on the ass end of The Monkey Queen’s ass-kicking, he reconsidered his reconsideration. This morning, he contacted them (again) claiming to be in the process of distributing a Miraculous.  
  
“Now that attendance has been taken we’re gonna have today’s announcements from our class representative. Take it away, Mlle. Bourgeois.”  
  
“Right.” With a sigh, Chloé stands. Damn Sabrina for catching a cold. Hopefully, she’ll be over it by tomorrow. “As we bidded au revoir to ...what’s-his-face yesterday in the foreign exchange lottery, next week our foreign exchange student will arrive.” The class collectively murmur excitedly and clap. “I’m not done!” Everyone stops clapping and the blonde clears her throat. She glances in Adrien’s direction and his head doesn’t even raise at the sound of her voice. Not even an _acknowledgment_! This utterly _childish_ silent treatment has gone on long enough! Nevertheless, she presses on. “Audrey and Damocles informed me we’re getting Prince Ali Al-Amin from the kingdom of Achu off the coast of Cairo. That’s Cairo, Egypt. _Not_ the five euro note store that just opened up by the hotel.” Everyone, _minus Adrien_ , stares at Chloé expectantly, “as representative, _I’ll_ be showing him the ropes. He’ll also be staying at Le Grand Paris for the duration of his time in our lovely city. Try not to bore him with your poor people problems? And for the love of God, don’t get him akumatized! That is not the type of publicity we need, with this being our school’s first ever foreign exchange student. Treat real royalty as you’d treat me, your city’s royalty.” She frowns as no one says anything. “One last thing. Tomorrow is the class trip to Fontainebleau. Make sure you hand in your signed permission slips by first bell tomorrow or you’re gonna be shit outta luck and won’t be able to go.” She sighs dramatically then takes her seat, “ _now_ I’m done.”  
  
“Merci, Mlle. Bourgeois.”  
  
“My pleasure.” She’ll have to do this more often. Maybe.  
  
“We’re getting an actual prince, in _this_ school!?” Aurore fans herself off. “This is the best kind of mistake that could happen!” The rest of the class murmurs excitedly.  
  
Lila sighs dreamily. “I’m so excited about tomorrow! Fontainebleau is so elegant~”  
  
Chloé snorts, putting in a pair of oversized fox head shaped earrings. “What’s so ‘elegant’ about forests and old buildings?”  
  
“Surprisingly, that’s a solid question.” Chloé looks at the teacher in disbelief. “Hopefully, it’s a question tomorrow’s trip will answer.”  
  
Rose bursts in the classroom panting. “Sorry I’m late!” Everyone watches the blonde walk to the teacher’s desk with a folded piece of paper.  
  
“You’ve been out for over a week, Mlle. Lavillant, and all you can say is ‘Sorry I’m late?’” The blonde shrugs helplessly. With a sigh, Mme. Mendeleiev reads over the paper.  
  
Rose meets Juleka’s eyes briefly before the blonde looks away. As Juleka frowns, Mylène pats the purple-haired teen on the shoulder.  
  
Mendeleiev nods, tucking the paper in her lab coat pocket. “Take a seat wherever. Time to buddy up for this assignment.” Chloé stands, “with your deskmate, Mlle. Bourgeois.”  
  
The blonde gasps then sits down. With Sabrina absent, Chloé looks around realizing she doesn’t have a deskmate anywhere near her and Adrien’s all the way at the front of the class. She can’t even subtly get to him. Frowning, she raises her hand. “Mme. Mendeleiev, I don’t _have_ a deskmate. No one is next to me.”  
  
“Is that a fact? Found you a seat, Mlle. Lavillant. Take a seat next to Mlle. Bourgeois.” The two blue-eyed blondes lock eyes.  
  
“ _D’oh_!” Rose mutters then trudges up the stairs.  
  
“Aren’t you glad I sat next to you?” Félix asks. Lila rolls her eyes. Nineteen other kids in this damn class and he had to take the seat next to her?  
  
“Today we’re gonna compare virtual dissecting to the real thing.” The class stares at their teacher in horror, “the left side of the room will be digitized while the right will be doing the real thing.”  
  
“Son of a bitch!” Chloé shouts.  
  
Mireille, thankful to be on the left side, raises her hand. “Mme. Mendeleiev? What animal are we dissecting?”  
  
“Turtles.” ~~Kagami involuntarily shudders.~~  
  
Alix raises her hand, “teach, can I switch to the right side? I wanna cut into one of those suckers.”  
  
“ _No_. No one switches.” The class murmur their protests at once until Mendeleiev blows a whistle. “That’s enough! It’s done. Mlle. Gérard, can you pass out these boxes?” The pink-haired girl next to Adrien nods then gets up from her desk and walks over to the large white box of boxes on the teacher’s desk.  
  
Out of everyone to receive a box, Juleka is the only one who doesn’t look a half second away from barfing. She even rattles the box excitedly as Mylène looks on in horror.  
  
“Mlle. Césaire, can you hand out the tablets?”  
  
“Got it.” Alya salutes bounding over to the desk picking up the red box. She whistles as she goes up the aisles passing out the tablets inside.  
  
“The instructions are either inside your box or taped to your tablet. If you have any questions—”  
  
“ _My turtle’s still alive_!” Chloé screams, as does Rose. The whole class gets up and rushes to the back to see the still very much alive turtle moving around in the box, much faster than a turtle normally would. There’s a loud _popping_ sound before the remaining tops fly off their boxes.  
  
“Dissecting animals is wrong!” A disembodied voice yells. All the turtles rise from out of their boxes.  
  
The class collectively screams before running out of the room.  
  
Kagami makes sure she’s the last out of the classroom. She ducks behind a column, everyone too distracted from their lives to notice and appropriately so. (Those zombie turtles are _fast_.) Wayzz creeps up from her hood. She’s taken to wearing bigger jackets so the kwami can relax comfortably.  
  
“This isn’t Miraculous magic—”  
  
If Mme. Mendeleiev’s class’ screaming didn’t alert other classes something was amiss, M. Babineaux’s – the other quatrième science teacher – class picked up the slack. Students came barreling out of the classroom as _frogs_ chased after them. (Surprisingly enough, they weren’t faster than the turtles.) It takes _seconds_ before the other classroom doors open and students rush out of them.  
  
“What kind of magic is it then?” Kagami peers out from the column into the empty hall then resurrected rats, _cats_ , frogs, rabbits, and birds storm out of the science labs heading toward the exits. “ _Cats_? Did I see—People dissect _cats_!?”  
  
Wayzz blinks, “evidently.” They shake their head, “Hatchling, this is unprovoked necromancy.”  
  
Necromancy. Necromancy. What the hell is—? _Oh_. Duh. The dissected animals were dead. Oh. Necromancy must be restoring the dead back to life. Not looking forward to this one. Kagami grimaces. “How is this unprovoked?”  
  
“Normally, necromancy requires a necromancer.” Wayzz gestures to the chaos, “no matter how powerful a necromancer, they couldn’t cause the resurgence of so many creatures of different species at once. You’d need one necromancer per group of animal. I’ve counted six groups of animals yet sensed zero necromancers. It’s almost as if the building itself caused this. When magic literally takes on a life of its own, it’s called unprovoked.”  
  
“You’re saying the school’s haunted.”  
  
“I’m _saying_ the concentration of magic this school has absorbed over the course of the past... how long has it been? Four? Five months? Has come to blows, in a manner of speaking.” Kagami glance at Wayzz with a raised eyebrow, “yes, in layman’s terms the school is haunted due to the residual magic of Mme. Papillion’s akumas.”  
  
“How do we get it... un-haunted?”  
  
“We can’t. Stopping the animals just pours more magic into the school. On the other hand, doing nothing means we’re left with reanimated corpses.”  
  
“Decisions, decisions.” Kagami heads to the back doors of the school, propping a brick against the door so she doesn’t get locked out of the exit only doors. “Wayzz, defense shield.”  
  
“ _Wait_ , what are we gonna—” The kwami is cut off mid-sentence as they merge with the bracelet.  
  
As Ricochet, Kagami re-enters the empty school. The disembodied voice came from their classroom. Whether or not it’s because both she and Marinette, along with another student in their class (because Wayzz told her they sensed another kwami among their classmates), all have Miraculouses is unknown.  
  
The classroom is just as the class left it in their rush to leave. Maybe she should’ve come up with a plan before transforming?  
  
“Dissecting animals is wrong!”  
  
Kagami rolls her eyes, “so you’ve said. What’s your alternative?”  
  
She hears heels rapidly _approaching_ then sees Chloé and Lila against the door panting. “Chloé, are you out of your _mind_!? We’re going back for your _phone_!? You’re rich! _You can buy a new phone_!”  
  
“Not just my phone. My new purse and all my cards and—” The blonde gasps excitedly, “Turtle Girl!”  
  
“Ricochet.”  
  
“That’s a dumb—” Lila tackles Chloé to the ground as a tablet flies at them. “ _My dress_!” The tablet cracks in two as it hits the wall above and behind them.  
  
Lila’s eyes widen as she looks up and zombie animals are pressed against the windows trying to get in the classroom. Chloé wriggles from underneath her until Lila lets go and the blonde runs up the stairs to grab her purse. Lila gets up as Chloé gets back down the stairs. Chloé grabs the brunette’s hand and they run _toward_ Ricochet.  
  
The blonde inserts herself in the middle of Lila and Ricochet then snaps several selfies of the three of them. Chloé kisses her phone then grabs Lila’s hand again and runs to the door but Ricochet puts up a shield.  
  
Chloé bounces off the doorframe which would be hilarious under any other circumstance. “W-What are you doing?”  
  
“You’re gonna work for those pictures.” She tosses the box that had the turtles at Chloé who catches it with a shudder. “Go get all the dissected animal boxes.”  
  
“Oh!” Lila hits her left palm with her right fist, “you must be pretty pissed your brethren are being abused posthumously.”  
  
“Something like that.”  
  
Chloé gags, “gross. Utterly... gross. I’m gonna need an autograph when this is over.”  
  
Ricochet removes the bubble from the door and the two girls run down the hall into the closest science lab. The only reason Kagami knows they haven’t left yet is because she can hear the blonde complaining.  
  
Kagami looks around the room trying to see if anything looks or feels off.  
  
She steps out of the classroom then steps back in. Nothing feels different. If only there were some—  
  
Kagami hears screams. That’ll do. When she steps out into the hall again, Chloé and Lila run over to her, with the boxes, and duck behind her shoulders pointing in front of them. Due to her height and the Miraculous not changing it, she isn’t providing the two taller teens much cover. “What happened?”  
  
“One of the windows was opened and a shriveled up cat came through. It was a _cat_! _Who dissects cats_!?” The brunette screams.  
  
The boxes pry themselves out of the girls’ grasp then float in the air. Chloé whimpers grabbing onto her for dear life, “this is just _wrong_! So. Utterly. Wrong.”  
  
“Do either of you know about necromancy?”  
  
“I do. It allows communication with the dead. But it’s so much more than those cheap plastic boards they show in the movies. The original practitioners used necromancy to seek guidance from their ancestors.” Chloé gasps, gaping at Lila. “What?”  
  
“Do you practice it?”  
  
“ _No_. My ancestors had shit luck.” ~~The brunette wouldn’t be surprised if her family was cursed.~~ “Besides, disturbing the dead puts you in...” Lila blinks, “situations like this.” She groans, “can’t believe I didn’t remember this sooner. I know how to stop this, Ricochet! We need to properly bury the animals.”  
  
Chloé’s eyes narrow. “And just how do you know that?”  
  
“Dead things only return to the living world when they have unfinished business. That’s just common sense.”  
  
“That is _not_ ‘just common sense!’ It’s barely common knowledge!”  
  
Lila rolls her eyes, “ _anyway_ , I know what I’m talking about. My old school in Naples called in shamans to cleanse the school after a kid who drowned in our pool kept trying to drown anyone who used the pool. They summoned the kid’s soul then laid it to rest and the hauntings stopped.”  
  
“Why did they haunt the school in the first place?”  
  
“Pushed in the pool during an argument. Instead of trying to help, the kid that pushed them laughed. When they realized the kid wasn’t faking and was really drowning they were too late to react and save them. I guess whenever they heard laughter around the pool it reminded them of how they died.”  
  
“We’re not gonna bury dead animals, are we? That means we have to _touch_ them! I am so not digging in my new dress!”  
  
“If you have any other options I’m all ears.” Chloé opens her mouth then closes it with a pout.  
  
The front doors blow open and the animals charge inside. Lila and Chloé huddle together screaming while Ricochet holds out her hands in front of her, forming the bubble shield. Fù told her creating large shields would put immeasurable strain on her body and send it into shock, so she has to be careful with the size.  
  
“Ricochet, your nose is bleeding.” Lila says.  
  
“I’m fine.” The shield must be too big but she can’t stop, not yet. The reanimated animals run right into the bubble shield. Ricochet brings her hands together compacting the shield and the animals inside as small as it can go. Damn, she can feel the blood coming out of her nose stronger now. It doesn’t quite fit into the box but it’s close enough, whatever doesn’t fit just spills out into the shield.  
  
She stares at the boxes quizzically. They all have _Couture Company_ ™ written on them. (She needs to look them up.) After stacking all the boxes in one another, she hefts the box(es) and starts walking toward the entrance.  
  
Ricochet hears squabbling behind her before footsteps, “s-so... about that autograph?”  
  
“My hands are currently occupied. I’ll gladly give you the box to sign something for you.”  
  
Chloé shivers. “I’ll wait.”  
  
🐢  
  
Chloé always leaves school for lunchtime, with or without Sabrina. However, today she stuck around showing off her autographed purse and selfies. The downside was she had no food, and by the time the crowds dissipated it was too late to leave and get some. Lila didn’t have any food either because Chloé was planning on taking the brunette with her.  
  
The blonde surveys the cafeteria.  
  
Losers. Losers. Not worth her time. _Ah_. She gets up and marches over to Kim’s table. The brunet pauses with his hand in the air about to stuff half a croque monsieur in his mouth.  
  
Chloé bats her eyelashes at him, “Kim...”  
  
Kim eyes Chloé eyeing his sandwich. “Chloé.”  
  
“You’re such a sweetheart. A real classy guy. Surely, a pure-hearted individual such as yourself wouldn’t allow little ol’ me to go hungry?”  
  
“Why can’t you call your butler to bring you lunch?”  
  
“I _tried_.” She huffs, “Jean-Étienne didn’t even pick up on his ‘emergency’ line. All I got was the dialtone.” Chloé sits at the table. “C’mon, Kim. A pretty girl is in need. You’re not gonna let that stand, are you?”  
  
“What do I get from helping you?”  
  
“Are you trying to _barter_ with me Kim Lê Chiên?”  
  
“Let’s, in the interest of saving time, say that I am? What do you have to trade for it?” He opens his lunchbox and takes out a perfectly wrapped...  
  
Chloé squints. Despite not knowing what that is her traitorous stomach grumbles loudly, “what is that?”  
  
“A bánh mì gà nướng .”  
  
“In French, Kim.”  
  
“A Vietnamese grilled chicken sandwich.”  
  
“Hmm... chicken weren’t being dissected today so I can eat it.” She takes a deep breath, “before I begin: why do you have two different sandwiches?”  
  
“The bánh mì was my breakfast.”  
  
“Ah. I see.” Chloé clears her throat, “what do you want for the... bá-bán—the sandwich? XY is staying at Le Grand Paris next week. I can get you an autograph?”  
  
“Tempting, but I’m gonna have to pass. Not really an XY fan.”  
  
“Seriously?! How could you not be? His music is amazing! I mean, he’s no Clara Nightingale but... you know. He’s great.” At Kim’s raised eyebrow, Chloé blows out a breath, “begging is utterly unbecoming, Kim.”  
  
“I’m not gonna make you beg, Chloé.”  
  
“Well, what do you want then? Name something you want and I’ll see if I can make it happen.” Kim shakes his head with a laugh. “What? All I have to do is—” He puts the wrapped half of his croque monsieur in Chloé’s hands. Chloé blinks at the sandwich then up at Kim. “I didn’t—”  
  
“Don’t worry about it. Not gonna let you go hungry.”  
  
“Merci, Kim.” She leans forward to kiss him on the cheek, “you’re way too good for this school.” Chloé takes a huge bite out of the sandwich and moans appreciatively.  
  
“What’s _she_ doing here?” Alix asks taking a seat on Kim’s left, “wait... _dude, did you give her your sandwich_?” The pink-haired teen groans, “you’re unbelievable, you know that? And not in a good way.” Alix grumbles to herself as she takes out her lunch.  
  
Chloé finishes the rest of her sandwich in silence, listening to Kubdel and Kim cracking jokes at each other. “Tomorrow, I’ll share some of my lunch with you.”  
  
“Chloé, you don’t have to—”  
  
“I do. Owing someone is utterly unacceptable.“ She clicks her tongue, “not only that, despite your... friendship with Kubdel—” The aforementioned pink-haired girl scoffs, “you’re one of the few students in this hellhole worthy of respect. I wouldn’t be sticking my neck out for just anyone.”  
  
“I... uh, okay.”  
  
“Good. You haven’t developed any food allergies recently, have you?” Kim shakes his head. Chloé nods then gets up from the table and leaves the cafeteria.  
  
“That... reminded me of before we got here.” Alix muses. “When Chloé was just a regular brat rather than the mega brat she’s become lately.” Alix takes a bite out of her sandwich, “you’re still too damn nice though.” She punches Kim in the arm.  
  
🐢  
  
Nora drops Alya off in the Anansi-car. “You know you don’t have to keep giving me a ride to school, right?”  
  
“Fuck that. Last time you walked you got abducted by an akuma. I got a crowbar with Papillion’s name on it if it happens again.” Alya laughs, “listen, a trip to a château _sounds_ boring as fuck but try to make the most of it?” Alya nods and Nora leans over to ruffle her hair. “I’m picking you up.” Alya groans, “go on. I ain’t leaving until you’re inside.”  
  
“Ma’s not even as paranoid as you, Nora!”  
  
“She don’t need to be paranoid. She works at a motherfucking akuma factory! The calmer she is the better.”  
  
“True.” Alya hoists her backpack over her shoulder. “Later.”  
  
“Later.”  
  
“Alya!” Marinette happily runs over to her, “bonjour Nora.”  
  
“‘Sup, MDC. Get any new commissions?”  
  
Marinette blushes, “no, not since Sunday but I’m done with all of them. Just have to mail everything. I appreciate all your help with making the website, Nora.”  
  
“Glad those webdesign classes I took by accident amounted to something. Besides, you and Sabre take care of Aly. Can’t repay you for that. Now go on. Not leaving until you’re inside.” Nora shoos them inside the building and drives off once they’re inside.  
  
Surprisingly, Kagami is in the class when they arrive. Since she travels the farthest to school out of the three of them she’s usually the last to arrive. Marinette used to be late all the time before they both started calling her; now she makes it to school a hairsbreadth away from being late. Hmm. Maybe Nora can pick Kagami up and take her to school? They’ll have to talk to Kagami’s ma about it.  
  
“Been a while since I’ve been on a class trip.” Alya muses. “We’ll have to take lots of pictures to commemorate the occasion.”  
  
Mme. Mendeleiev does a headcount as Adrien hands her his permission slip. “Cutting it a little close, M. Agreste.”  
  
“S-Sorry, Madame. My maman had questions about the trip—”  
  
“Questions, I’d like answered.” A tall blonde woman is leaning against the doorway with a bored expression.  
  
“Tante Émilie!” Sabrina and Chloé exclaim waving. She waves at the girls before returning her attention to the teacher.  
  
“I volunteer to chaperone.”  
  
“That’s... generous of you, Mme. Graham de Vanily—”  
  
“Of course it is.” She walks fully in the classroom taking a seat on Mme. Mendeleiev’s desk.  
  
Mendeleiev regards the woman briefly before redoing her headcount. All twenty-three students present and accounted for plus her chaperones: Mme. Graham de Vanily and M. Haprèle. With Jean’s departure in the foreign exchange lottery, the class was uneven until their new student arrives. (Why her class? Why is it always her class?)  
  
The blonde beckons her son over and whispers in his ear. He sighs loudly then whispers something to her. She hums then pats Adrien on the head.  
  
Bustier comes into the classroom, does an honest-to-goodness double take at the woman on the desk, then walks over to Mendeleiev whispering in her ear. When she’s done, the redhead clears her throat and gestures to the class. “We’re just getting everything ready. The bus is leaving in fifteen minutes. Please make your preparations now.” With a nod, she walks out the classroom.  
  
“Come along Adrien, let’s see what buses André provided.” With a nod, he follows after his mother.  
  
Ten minutes later all the quatrième classes begin boarding their respective buses.  
  
Chloé is first to board their bus, “you’re welcome.” Is all she says before going inside.  
  
The rest of the class boards the bus in awe. There’s a minifridge, a kitchenette, a video game console, a jacuzzi, USB ports at every seat, a bowling alley, and a television at the front of the bus behind the driver’s seat. “No way Oncle André was gonna let us ride a regular schoolbus to a place as extravagant as Fontainebleau!” Sabrina explains.  
  
“This isn’t a schoolbus, it’s a partybus.” _Everyone_ turns to Alya. “Uh, my sister? The professional kickboxer? I’ve been on a few partybuses.”  
  
“The seats _swivel_!” Kim yells. Everyone rushes to grab a seat and swivel on them.  
  
Mme. Mendeleiev clears her throat, “everyone take a seat _at a seat—_ ” She points at Kim who hold his hands up. “I’m doing the headcount.” She goes down the bus counting everyone out loud, including Adrien’s maman and Mylène’s papa Fred. She was hoping for at least three chaperones. Once she’s done she returns to the front of the bus. “Rules: Don’t. Touch. Anything. That’s it. That’s the only rule.” Everyone begins loudly talking over one another. “I mean in the châteaus, not on the bus!” The bus immediately quiets. “It’ll take us about an hour and a half to get to our destination. I’m sure you’ll find something to occupy yourselves in the meantime.” She nods to the bus driver.  
  
Everyone student minus Adrien gets up and explores the bus as it pulls off.  
  
Mme. Mendeleiev opens her mouth to say something but shuts it and plugs in her phone in the USB port.  
  
Fred reclines his seat then almost immediately falls asleep.  
  
Émilie puts her sunglasses on. “What happened between you and Chloé? She hasn’t come by since last Tuesday. You’re not still ‘mad’ at her for kicking that girl out of your movie premiere, are you?”  
  
“Chloé had no right to do that.”  
  
Émilie scoffs. “Oh please. Chloé is _family_ , Adrien. She had _every_ right. Everything she does for you she does for the brand. It’s... _boggling_ how desperate you are for friends when you were blessed with perfect ones. None of your classmates can contribute anything to the brand. There’s no reason to ‘hang’ with them and drop our credibility.”  
  
“Maman—”  
  
“How one-sided would your friendship be if you were always the one to provide?”  
  
“That’s not what friendship _means_ , maman.”  
  
“Then by all means, son, educate me: What does _friendship_ mean to you?”  
  
“Found some towels!” Alix crows. Adrien turns around and sees Alix passing out towels to Kim, Ondine, Sabrina, Lila, Aurore, Mireille, and Rose. The eight of them wrap the fluffy white towels around their bodies as they undress and set their clothes aside before getting in the jacuzzi with the towels on.  
  
“Friendship isn’t about getting something monetary. It’s about experiences and laughter.” He stares longingly at the group laughing. “It’s about doing dumb stuff with your peers because it’s fun. Not because it has to mean something for your family or its company.”  
  
“Adrien...” Émilie pinches the bridge of her nose underneath her sunglasses then sighs heavily, “you misguided fool. Television has clouded your judgment and deluded you. Real world ‘friendships’ are nothing more than business transactions. Nothing at all like your brightly colored television shows.”  
  
“Then why are you friends with Tante Audrey?”  
  
Émilie lowers her sunglasses to stare at her son, “I’d watch that tone if I were you, young man.” She leans back in her seat and puts her sunglasses back over her eyes. “If you must know, Audrey and I went to the same private schools growing up. She got me into acting, I got her into fashion. A beneficial transaction. Through Audrey I met Gabriel and had you. Through me she met André and had Chloé. Our relationship is give and take. Similar to you and Chloé. Or rather what _should be_ the case. I had no idea how one-sided your relationship was.” Adrien opens his mouth but Émilie holds up a hand. “You take your friendship with Chloé Bourgeois for granted. Chloé keeps the brand at the forefront of her mind. She watches for your groupies and stalkers on a daily basis and has done so for over ten years. How do you repay her? By publicly shaming her for standing up for you. Not just once either, but _twice_.” Émilie shakes her head, “the first time even got you akumatized. Your behavior as of late has been disappointing, Adrien, and that’s an understatement. And I’m certain you haven’t given that poor girl as much as a merci for all she does for you. You’ll apologize to Chloé the first chance you get.”  
  
“I’m not apologizing to her until she apologizes to Marinette.”  
  
“I wasn’t asking, Adrien.”  
  
“Mam—”  
  
“You owe this ‘Marinette’ girl nothing, but even if you did you owe Chloé much, much more. So you’re going to apologize to her and make up. End of discussion.”  
  
Adrien looks around the bus again, frowning. Marc and Nathaniel are sitting on the minifridge adorably nestled together sharing earbuds looking at a book.  
  
Marinette and Max have their feet on each other’s chairs swiveling them both simultaneously as they play Ultimate Mecha Strike IV: The Redeadening. “ _No, no, not the zombie mechs_!” Marinette screams.  
  
“I’m locating the health packs. My ETA is three minutes from you. Can you hold on until I arrive?”  
  
“I—” She yelps, “shit, _shit_. Yeah. Hopefully? I’m down to 50% health. Crap, crap, crap. 48%. There’s a power-up behind me but I can’t reach it with the zomb-mechs flanking. Think you can grab it on the way?”  
  
“Copy that. I’ll do my best.”  
  
“ _Dude_!” Nino plops down in between the chairs, “that the Redeadening? I got next.”  
  
“I saw four controllers. You can jump in at any time.” Max says.  
  
“We could _really_ use the help.”  
  
“Hell yeah. I’m in! Should I tank or do you need support?”  
  
“ _Support_.” Max and Marinette chorus.  
  
“You’ve never bowled before?” Alya asks the tall boy with the bleached blond tips. He shakes his head, “wanna try? It’s fun.” He nods and she hands him the bowling ball. “Alya.”  
  
“Ivan.” Alya has to tip-toe so they can cheek kiss.  
  
“You don’t want a ball that’s too light or it’ll just fly out your hand before you’re ready. If you get one that’s too heavy you won’t be able to curve it.”  
  
“Curve?”  
  
“I was on a junior bowling league back in elementary school.” He hands her back the ball, “oh. Okay. Let’s see if I still got it.” She does a couple of squats before letting the ball go, it skirts the right edge until it curves into the center pin giving her a strike.  
  
Ivan gapes, “that was incredible.”  
  
“Nah. I was off a bit.” His jaw drops and Alya laughs, patting him on the arm. “I’m kidding! That was a total fluke! I forgot how to do it until it was already out of my hand! You take your shot then I’ll go.”  
  
“You go again. I kinda wanna see if you can do it on purpose.”  
  
“Alright then, challenge accepted.”  
  
Chloé is sprawled out on several chairs asleep with her (new pair of) sunglasses over her eyes.  
  
Kagami, Mylène, and Juleka are looking through the cabinets in the kitchenette. If Chloé weren’t such a heavy sleeper, Adrien would wonder how she hasn’t woken up yet. He’s all the way at the front and he hears the cupboards.  
  
Félix is at the very back of the bus “reading,” when Adrien knows damn well he’s people watching.  
  
Wayhem is the only other student at the front of the bus, “looking at his phone,” and he’s clearly trying not to inch closer to comfort Adrien. He explored the bus then came back to the front.  
  
Mylène startles as she accidentally presses a button and a _pole_ comes out from under the seats then sets itself upright. Chloé gets up from her makeshift bed then raises her sunglasses over her eyes to stare at the pole in front of her. “What the hell?! Is that a stripper pole!?”  
  
“Pole dancing contest in ten minutes!” Kim calls out getting out of the jacuzzi. The others in the jacuzzi start to climb out as well. Mèlodie appears out of nowhere because Adrien hadn’t seen her at all since the initial headcount, handing them bigger towels then they start getting dressed. Chloé gets up but falls back as the seats start to move into the bus’ walls.  
  
“Help! _Helpi_!” It takes the joint effort of Ivan and Kim to pull Chloé out of the chair.  
  
Félix gives up all pretenses of “reading” and joins the group at the center of the bus around the pole. The only ones not paying attention to the pole are the three playing the game.  
  
Chloé ties her hair in a bun then cracks her knuckles. “I’m first.” She presses her left leg high against the pole and stretches. _Everyone_ – Adrien can even see the game paused in the background – watches the blonde stretch.  
  
“Chloé, what the fuck?” Sabrina utters.  
  
“I used to do gymnastics.”  
  
“Why did I not know that?”  
  
The blonde shrugs. “Conversation never came up.”  
  
“Do you wanna continue doing it?” Juleka puts her hands over her mouth.  
  
Chloé’s eyes narrow. “Why?”  
  
The purple-haired teen slowly removes her hands. “Starting a gymnastics club.”  
  
“I’m in. I never should’ve stopped. I used to be able to put my foot behind my head.” She puts her right leg against the pole and stretches. “It’s a good idea to do warm-up stretches before attempting to use the pole. You’ll pull something otherwise.” Most of the group begins stretching.  
  
Adrien sighs then looks ahead. Out the corner of his eye, he sees his maman stare at her phone. His papa’s picture flashes before she accepts the call.  
  
Wayhem meets his eyes then jerks his head toward the others. Adrien shakes his head and Wayhem nods. _Come on_. He mouths holding out his hand.  
  
If he’s gonna get in trouble regardless of what he does, might as well stoke the flame while it’s already lit. Adrien doesn’t spare his mother a glance as he takes Wayhem’s hand and gets up heading to the back. He’s aware of everyone watching him as he bypasses the group and stops behind the chairs in front of the console.  
  
There’s an explosion of glittery robotic gore on the screen that has the trio cheering and high-fiving. “C-Can I play?” They look over at him.  
  
“Sure.” Marinette replies. She grabs the spare controller beside her and hands it to him. “You’ll have to tank.”  
  
“That’s okay. I prefer tanking.”  
  
Max adjusts his glasses, “what’s next on the agenda? Shall we storm the zomb-gates or defend the villagers?”  
  
“Gates!” Nino and Marinette chant excitedly. Adrien nods in agreement when Max glances at him.  
  
“Gates it is.”  
  
“Dude, we need way more power-ups though. Split off and conquer?”  
  
“Agreed.”  
  
Marinette high-fives Nino, “we’ll get the goods.” Adrien notices Max and Nino are sitting on the same chair with Nino’s feet rotating Marinette’s chair as she’s rotating theirs. “Adrien, you can sit with me if you want?”  
  
“Y-Ye—o-okay. Merci.” Quelling his excitement, he sits on the other side so he’s not upsetting the chair rotating balance. “Mari—”  
  
“If you’re trying to apologize for Chloé, you shouldn’t have to.” Adrien blinks at her, almost dying in the game because she’s not even glancing at him. Instead, she’s ruthlessly crushing mechs without batting an eye.  
  
“I do. She... she did it for me.”  
  
“Whatever the reason, Adrien, _she_ did it. Not you. You’re not in control of another person’s actions, whether they ‘did it for you’ or not. If you came over here just to talk about Chloé you can go to where she is. We’re trying to storm châteaus and kill zomb-mechs.”  
  
Adrien’s grip on his controller tightens, “then let’s storm some châteaus.”  
  
The “pole dancing” contest turns into a “how long can you keep your legs wrapped around the pole” contest. Chloé wins, easily, though for some reason _Kubdel_ of all people came in second. How she even got her stumpy legs around the pole in the first place is a mystery for the ages. (Tsurugi was simply spectating and to be perfectly honest, not that she’ll ever admit it to anyone, Chloé was a bit disappointed; again, not that she’d admit it, she was looking forward to seeing the blue-haired girl make an attempt. Orange-Hair too.) They gear up to start another pole related contest when Chloé looks over and sees Adrien’s sharing a seat with Marinette Dupain-Cheng laughing. That girl’s gonna regret Chloé remembering her name. Tsurugi too.  
  
In Audrey logic, the only purpose names serve is to identify your enemies; and in rare cases your allies. (Yet she never forgets to remind people her name means “strength.”) Chloé would feel bad that her mother – who named her, according to her father’s “tell all” session during Livestream’s akuma attack – doesn’t remember her name, if Audrey remembered _anyone_ ’s name. She gets Émilie and Amélie mixed up all the time. Which isn’t a difficult mistake as they are identical and wear their hair the same. Chloé’s even heard her mother call her own husband a different name, on multiple occasions. (Though the implications of _that_ leave some questions neither of them might want answered.)  
  
Sabrina appears beside her and clears her throat, “don’t do it, Chloé.”  
  
“Don’t do _what_?”  
  
“Take this away from Adrien.” She jerks her head back. Chloé turns around partially and out the corner of her eye see Émilie with her sunglasses off glaring in their direction. No. Not _their_ direction, Adrien’s. Chloé grimaces then turns back around. “You know she’s as temperamental as your maman. Besides, he’s already not talking to you.”  
  
“Yes, well merci beaucoup for reminding me Sabrina.”  
  
She shrugs. “What did you even _do_? Adrien’s like the kindest person on the planet yet you’ve somehow managed to piss him off to the point of blowing his top twice in the same month. I’m surprised he didn’t get akumatized a second time.” Chloé right eye twitches, “I know you don’t like to be reminded of it but it needed to be said.”  
  
“Well I certainly don’t keep you around for your sunny personality.” Sabrina shrugs again. “You were at the movie premiere. Did you not see all the hashtags? Making fun of me for wearing a last season dress!?”  
  
“Chloé, you _knew_ that dress was last season when Jean-Phillipe presented it to you. You said some shit about ‘vintage’ when that wasn’t what the word means. You have no one to blame but yourself.”  
  
“Nice to see where your loyalties lie.”  
  
“Chloé, I couldn’t be loyaler to you if I tried. Adrien doesn’t have the heart to tell you the facts without sugar-coating it and Lila doesn’t know you as well as I do.”  
  
Chloé grimaces, “you could do with being a little less smug.”  
  
“I learned from the best.”  
  
“That you did. Alright. So, understand where I’m going with this? Audrey is _The_ _Queen of Fashion_ , what does that make me Sabrina? Her daughter? I should be fashion royalty! _The Princess of Fashion_! I should be _coated_ in designer wear!”  
  
“Eww. Poor choice of words.”  
  
Chloé rolls her eyes. “ _Look_. Fact of the matter is, I can afford to wear last season’s clothes at my leisure. _What I cannot afford is to be called out like I did it accidentally_!”  
  
“Then set the record straight.”  
  
“It’s too damn late. If I bring it up now I’ll just get hate-mail about how I didn’t say anything sooner, and I have no patients for those fair-weathered simpletons. I’m not reopening that tin of escargots and caviar. I’ll let Dupain-Cheng keep her momentary fame. She’ll evaporate faster than Roth’s hairline.” Sabrina cocks her head to the right in confusion. “ _You know what I mean_!” The blonde huffs, “I’m getting water.”  
  
That redhead she keeps forgetting the name of (unlike the rest of her eight year long classmates: Lavillant, Kubdel, Sabrina, and Kim, this nondescript redhead never did anything memorable. The only reason Chloé even remembers his existence is because he’s always skulking around with a book) and that rude pretty blue-haired kid she doesn’t know the name of are sitting on the minifridge. It’s as cute as it is nauseating.  
  
Chloé clears her throat and they look up from their shared notebook at her. The blue-haired kid narrows their green eyes. “What is it, Chloé?” The redhead asks.  
  
“I need cold water. Can’t exactly get any with you two sitting on the fridge.”  
  
“The fridge is locked.” Blue-Hair responds shortly. ~~And she though Tsurugi had a temper.~~  
  
“Lila?” The aforementioned brunette curiously makes her way over. “The minifridge is locked.”  
  
“Not a problem. Excuse me.” She takes a hairpin out of her hair and walks over to the minifridge. The redhead and the other kid (who she _needs_ to get the name of, she’ll ask Sabrina) slide off the minifridge as Lila approaches. She crouches in front of the minifridge and sticks her hairpin in the lock. She jiggles it around until there’s a loud clack noise and the door opens easily.  
  
Lila puts the hairpin back in her hair, fully opens the minifridge, and pulls out two bottles of water. She gives one to Chloé and keeps the other for herself as she rejoins the group at the pole.  
  
“Chloé, how does she know how to do that?”  
  
“I don’t ask. Plausible deniability. Grazie, Bambola!” Lila blows a loud kiss at her.  
  
The redhead picks up a bottle of water. “There’s alcohol in this water.” He mutters _as Chloé takes a sip of her water_. She spits the water out.  
  
“And it’s _gross_! What the hell?” She sticks her tongue out in disgust, barely restraining herself from trying to wipe the taste off her tongue. “Isn’t alcohol supposed to be delicious?”  
  
“Depends, really.” Sabrina and the redhead turn to the blue-haired kid who shrugs without saying another word.  
  
Chloé hands her bottle to Sabrina then gathers up as many bottles as she can carry and walks toward the pole group. She makes two more trips before grabbing four bottles and walking toward the group at the console. “Thirsty?”  
  
She doesn’t know who pauses the game but the four of them look at her suspiciously.  
  
“It’s a simple yes or no question. If you don’t want water, I’ll go.”  
  
“Hold up.” Her deskmate in Mme. Bustier’s class says holding out his hand. Chloé puts a water bottle in it. He skims the bottle with a hum then hands it to Dupain-Cheng. She, in turn, skims the bottle before handing it to the short kid with the glasses. Lastly, he scans it then hands it to Adrien.  
  
Adrien stares at the bottle, skims it, stares some more, then skims it one more time. “Chloé, why are you trying to give us spiked water?” She wordlessly jerks a thumb at the group toasting their water bottles.  
  
“Ah. The standard peer pressure tactic. My maman believes in allaying my curiosity. It prevents making rash decisions in situations like this.”  
  
“Are you even speaking French?”  
  
The short boy in the glasses sighs. And Chloé knows that particular sigh because she’s very familiar with using it. It’s the sigh of someone fed up with explaining stuff. Whether it’s explaining stuff to her or just in general she doesn’t know, however. “In layman’s terms, I am not overtly curious about the taste of this beverage as I have tried alcohol before with my maman present.”  
  
“Not that there’s much alcohol in this.” Dupain-Cheng says with a shrug. Adrien turns to her in surprise. Hell, even Chloé’s admittedly shocked, “says so on the bottle? Besides, I’ve seen this brand before.”  
  
Chloé deskmate tilts his head at the shorter boy. “Back up a bit. Dude, you _drank_ with your maman?”  
  
“I didn’t consume an entire bottle in her proximity, but yes. I didn’t particularly care for it but knowing that I don’t enjoy certain alcoholic beverages due to experience rather than guessing on principle disallows me to overindulge simply because of peer pressure or curiosity.”  
  
“ _Dude_!” Dupain-Cheng holds up her hand for a high-five and the boy hesitantly indulges her, “that’s the gist of what my nonna taught me! Try it out with family so you don’t go crazy with friends.”  
  
“I like that. Mind if I use that with my big bro?”  
  
“Go for it.”  
  
“Wow. My parents would never let me do anything like that.”  
  
“That proves my point. Because your parents do not allow you to sate your curiosity you find yourself wondering—”  
  
“What it tastes like.” Adrien finishes.  
  
“Tante Émilie is already here, Adrikins, and pissed at you for reasons I don’t know since you’re not speaking to me. You might as well go in for the pound. And this isn’t me trying to peer pressure you into drinking.”  
  
“If you wanna try it, we’ll keep you from downing it in one go.” The brunet with the cap says. “Might even try it along with you.”  
  
“Not that you’ll get drunk off 5% alcohol... unless you’re an extreme lightweight.” Dupain-Cheng mutters.  
  
“By the way, Adrikins... now that I have you, I apologize for making your big night about me when I should’ve been at your side letting the media give you the attention and adoration you deserve. Your movie was great, but I didn’t expect anything less.”  
  
Adrien rubs the back of his neck smiling sheepishly, “apology accepted, Chlo.”  
  
The blonde breathes a sigh of relief, “that’s great. I missed—”  
  
“Wait a second. I’m not the only person you need to apologize to. You have to apologize to Marinette too.”  
  
The blue-haired girl’s not even looking in her direction. Chloé’s right eyebrow twitches, “are you serious? Absolutely not.”  
  
“Then I’m not forgiving you.”  
  
“You can’t take forgiveness back!”  
  
“Actually, he can.”  
  
“You two stay out of this!”  
  
“Chloé, apologizing to me but not Marinette isn’t gonna cut it.”  
  
Chloé stomps her foot, “you’re being utterly ridiculous, Adrikins! What do I even need to apologize to her for?”  
  
“You’re joking.” Chloé merely raises an eyebrow in reply. “I’m talking about kicking her out of the movie premiere.”  
  
“Oh. _That_.” Rolling her eyes, Chloé takes a deep breath. “I—” The blonde’s eyebrows furrow, “wait, I don’t owe her anything!”  
  
“What are you talking about?” Adrien asks.  
  
“If I hadn’t done what I did no one would’ve even heard of her or given her mediocre creations a first glance let alone a second. She should be _grateful_ —“  
  
Dupain-Cheng _laughs_ and Chloé has to admit that sound is getting to her. “Is that what you think? You really are delusional.”  
  
“ _Excuse me_!?”  
  
“I’ve been getting commissions long before your tantrum but nice try. All you did was paint yourself in a negative light, which I don’t think you really needed me for... since you’ve done it before.” Chloé gasps, “anyway, if you’re done wasting our time, we have châteaus to storm.” Chloé growls then walks off with the remaining bottles in her hands.  
  
Unpausing the game, Adrien uncaps the water bottle and takes a generous swig. It tastes _terrible_ but he swallows it. He holds it out to Nino who shrugs and takes a much smaller swig. When Nino’s done, he passes it to Marinette. Before she can put the bottle to her mouth it gets snatched away. “Huh?”  
  
“Your tastebuds will appreciate the save.” Alya hugs Marinette from behind, putting her chin on Marinette’s head, and recaps the water bottle.  
  
“You didn’t try any?” Marinette asks.  
  
Alya laughs, “oh no. The smell alone made that decision for me. My ma buys the good sparkled water, both with alcohol and without. I even brought a few non-alcoholic ones with me to share with you and Mimi. Rich people got no taste—” Adrien does a double take she misses. “All that money and they buy expensive piss-smelling water with legally the least amount of alcohol you can put into a beverage and still claim it to be alcoholic.”  
  
“May I?” Alya shrugs then hands the bottle over to Max. He uncaps it and takes a tentative sniff, “huh. It does have a rather... sewage effluvium to it.”  
  
“Sew—I took a sip of rich people sewer water.”  
  
“Even if you did, I’m certain they filtrate it.”  
  
“Man, I gotta say. That doesn’t help.”  
  
Alya and Marinette laugh. “Done killing robo-blins, Nette?”  
  
Nino blinks at her, “what?”  
  
“Robot goblins? Ain’t that what you were over here killing?”  
  
“That’s Ultimate Mecha Strike V: Rezombinators. This is IV: The Redeadening. We’re killing robot zombies.”  
  
“Why are you killing zombies in the game that _isn’t_ rezombies?” The game pauses and they lower their controllers to stare at her. “What? I’m right.”  
  
“You are.” Max adjusts his glasses. “Curious. I have never given that any thought before. I need to ruminate.”  
  
“Wanna watch?”  
  
Alya nods, moving back a bit. Nino gets up and offers her his chair. “Such a gentleman but I’m good.”  
  
“You sure?”  
  
“Yeah, Slick. I’m gravy. Sit and kick some robozombie ass.” Nino nods then takes his seat. Someone unpauses the game and they continue raiding the loot crates.  
  
“Where’s Mimi?”  
  
“So there’s one of those speed bags in a closet? She’s just going to town on it. Pretty sure she’s gonna break it. I don’t know why there’s so much crap on this bus?”  
  
“This is the same bus company that made XY’s tour bus.” Adrien replies.  
  
Alya hums. “That would make sense if I knew who XY was.”  
  
“He’s this kinda obnoxious singer. He walks around with a giant golden XY chain all the time.”  
  
Juleka wanders over, “no way. It this Rezombinators?”  
  
“No. It’s the zombie killing one.”  
  
“The Redeadening?” Juleka’s eyebrows furrow, “huh. Wait a sec—Why didn’t they name the zombie killing one Rezombinator?”  
  
“That’s what I want to know.” Alya mutters.  
  
“I guess ‘re’zombies aren’t really zombies? But—wait...” Marinette frowns, “no. Yeah, I don’t get it. Doesn’t stop the franchise from being fun though. You two want a turn?”  
  
“Never played. Don’t have any games of my own and I don’t wanna mess with Luka’s save progress. Once I nearly released one of his shiny Pokémon just trying to look at it...? Hasn’t let me near his games since.”  
  
Max hums. “That would’ve been terrible. The odds of encountering an off-color or ‘shiny’ Pokémon in the wild are one in 6000.”  
  
Juleka whistles, “fuck. If akumas were around back then that would’ve akumatized the hell out of him for sure.”  
  
“That’s why I breed them. Or _try to_.“ Alya shrugs. “Had one successful shiny Pokémon breed and it was a complete accident.”  
  
“Do you have a Switch?” Nino asks. “I need to evolve my Escargaume.”  
  
“You’re kidding! I got a Carabing! I’d love to trade with you.”  
  
Kagami joins the group. “Why does a bus this large only have one bathroom?” She squints at the screen, “are your robots _on fire_?”  
  
“It’s my ultimate.” Nino replies.  
  
“Ah. That explains everything without explaining anything. I see châteaus in the distance. I believe we are close to our destination.”  
  
“Mimi, I need to see you play this game on the way back.”  
  
“I have never given video games much attention.”  
  
“What do you do for fun?”  
  
“Meditate.”  
  
Nino nods slowly then nudges Marinette, “is she joking?” He whispers.  
  
“I have no idea.” She whispers back.  
  
🐢  
  
Mme. Mendeleiev makes sure everyone is fully clothed and dry before getting off the bus. Their class was first to arrive so they had the time to spare. “I’m invoking the buddy system. Everyone pick a partner you’re gonna stick—” Before Mme. Mendeleiev finishes speaking, Chloé latches onto Adrien, “...with for the duration of the tour.”  
  
By the time they get off the bus paired up, the other six classes are lined up. As the class lines up, Chloé (and by extension Adrien) cuts to the front of the line for their class, despite protests.  
  
“Welcome to Château de Fontainebleau!” The tour guide cheerfully greets. “How many of you have been to Fontainebleau before?” Several students in each class raise their hand. “I see the majority of you have not. Well, we hope this is a pleasant experience for all!”  
  
The tour guide gestures for everyone to enter.  
  
All the classes squeeze into two lines as they ascend the staircases. Chloé yawns. Not even three minutes into the trip and she’s already bored. She’s still latched onto Adrien who hasn’t said a word. Behind her, Sabrina is taking pictures of the château. Mme. Mendeleiev is by Sabrina. Oh. The poor girl must’ve drawn the short straw to get stuck with the teacher.  
  
Émilie is talking to... dammit Chloé didn’t even notice the damn mime was here. She should’ve had her papa chaperone. Or asked Tante Amélie.  
  
She can’t locate the rest of her classmates while walking. Not that it or they matter.  
  
Lila bundles her jacket closer to her body. Damn -1 °C record low temperatures. She got saddled with Wayhem which was a damn sight better than M. I Don’t Believe In Personal Space. He and Aurore were walking ahead laughing loudly. ~~Fucking rich people.~~  
  
“Poor Adrien...”  
  
Lila glances up at Wayhem frowning, “you’re gonna have to be a little specific.”  
  
“I overheard the conversation he had with his maman on the partybus. It was... painful. Poor guy can’t catch a break.”  
  
“Then we’ll hook a break for him.” Wayhem looks at her dubiously. “C’mon! We’re on a trip! I’m certain it’s Adrien’s first trip! It’s supposed to be fun, so let’s make it memorable!” Wayhem, still a little dubious, nods then pauses.  
  
“We’ll never be able to get him away from Chloé. She has like an iron grip on him.”  
  
“Not a problem if we include Chloé.”  
  
“I... suppose.”  
  
Mylène yawns. Her papa talking to Adrien’s maman is... unsettling. Though she can’t put her finger on why. Alya paired up with her which made Mylène blush a bit because Alya is really pretty. She was certain Alya would be with Marinette or Kagami or even Juleka but she asked if it was cool that they paired up. Alya’s recording on her phone as they enter the château. She said to make this trip memorable and to take as many pictures slash videos as her phone’s memory would allow. After rounding up a few stragglers, Mme. Mendeleiev made sure her class stuck together. “Mme. Mendeleiev, if we have to use the bathroom does our buddy come into the bathroom with us?”  
  
“They don’t have to go to the bathroom with you. They can just wait outside.”  
  
Kim looks around in awe. “I’ve never been inside a château before... unless we’re counting Hairy Eddie’s Discount Pizza Château.”  
  
Chloé scoffs, “why on earth would you eat at a place called ‘Hairy Eddie’s?’ Did the _hairy_ part not, I don’t know, give you some kind of warning?”  
  
“No?” Chloé facepalms.  
  
“The pizza was good.” Alix chimes in and beside her Ondine nods in agreement.  
  
Lila bounces over to Chloé’s left side, where she isn’t cutting off the circulation in Adrien’s arm. “I have an idea.” She whispers. “Let’s give Adrien the best class trip ever.”  
  
“And how do you propose we do that in this boring ass place?”  
  
“By exploring parts the tour guides say are off limits.”  
  
“Anything to make this trip bearable. I’m game.”  
  
“Great. But to do that we’ll need Adrien _talking_ so I’m gonna have to swap partners with you.”  
  
“Eww. I don’t wanna partner with what’s-his-face. He reminds me of an off-brand Adrikins.”  
  
“Tesoro, you don’t have a choice.” Chloé blows out a breath and releases Adrien only for Lila to grab onto his arm. “Grazie.” As Chloé and Wayhem start walking together, much to the former’s annoyance, Lila turns to Adrien as they start walking. “Ciao, Bello~”  
  
Adrien sighs, “what are you doing, Lila?”  
  
“Giving you a break.” She whispers loosening her hold on his arm. “Your first class trip would be awful if you spent it petulantly refusing to talk to Chloé. But, uh, why aren’t you talking to her?”  
  
Adrien frowns, “she had Marinette kicked out of the movie premiere.”  
  
“She _did_!? Shit. Aw man, the information well has not been prosperous lately...”  
  
“What?”  
  
“Nothing, nothing. Just need to fire my sources.” She waves him off. “That’s all sorts of messed up, man.” Adrien nods in agreement, “so let’s not think about Chloé. What do _you_ want to do, Adrien Agreste?”  
  
“I can’t remember the last time someone asked me that.” He takes a deep breath. “I need to apologize to Kagami.”  
  
“Then let’s do that. Um, what do you need to apologize to her about?”  
  
Kagami is walking with Nino who is laughing so hard he’s clutching his stomach. And Kagami actually looks... not as pissed as usual. The blue-haired teen walks around with not so much as a resting “bitch” face but a resting “I’ll stab you” face. (It’s as hot as it is scary.)  
  
Adrien has that kicked puppy look as he watches them. Hmm. Maybe Lila should’ve paid attention to the paired up buddies? Not too late to do that. But _if anything_ , she expected Kagami to be with Alya or Marinette as the trio are almost always together. Alya’s with the mime’s daughter. Marinette is furiously whispering to an equally furiously nodding Juleka. Alix is with Ondine, Kim is with Rose, Mireille is with Mèlodie, Max is with Ivan (she _thinks_ that’s his name?), then lastly there’s Marc and Nathaniel to the surprise of no one. They make such a cute couple it’s disgusting.  
  
Lila has to wonder if she has a disgustingly cute other half out there? Or in the château? With her sources being shit, she hasn’t made any progress getting closer to Marinette or Alya. Lila won’t even try getting on Kagami’s good side directly, she’ll have to approach her through her best friends. But her primary objective is getting friendly with Marinette. This trip might provide some assistance with her task.  
  
She nudges Adrien who shakes his head. With a sigh, Lila shrugs.  
  
“For fuck’s sake, Rose, talk to the damn girl.”  
  
“What are you talking about?”  
  
“The purple-haired girl you took a week off of school to convince yourself you don’t have the hots for? Even though we all know you do because of Livestream? Plus, every time I looked in your direction you were looking around the bus.”  
  
“I—that’s not true.”  
  
Kim raises an eyebrow, “which part?”  
  
Rose sputters, “a-all of it! I did not intentionally take a week off of school, I caught a cold.” Kim nods, unconvinced. “A-And I’ve been looking around the bus t-to see everything it—” She groans, “I’m so lame! I didn’t take off of school for the week... not really, I really did get sick... b-but I felt better by Wednesday and didn’t wanna go so my papas didn’t make me. I don’t know what to do about Juleka!” She puts both hands in her head, “I’ve been awful to her! I’m not a homophobe, how can I be?! I have the greatest papas in all of France! _No_! I have the greatest papas in the whole freaking world! M-My père said I was suffering from ‘internalized biphobia.’”  
  
Kim nods slowly, “uh-huh... and that’s what exactly?”  
  
Rose clears her throat, “‘the internalized belief that bisexuality is somehow lesser or something of which one should be ashamed.’” She recites.  
  
“Ah. I guess that’s one of the perks of having a psychiatrist parent.”  
  
Rose nods, “not only was I ashamed I started falling for a girl I was ashamed I started falling for Juleka _which sounds so much worse_.” She shakes her head with a sigh, “I already had a crush on her older brother Luka, which Juleka knows about, so just ending up falling for her too? Seemed kinda greedy.”  
  
“Seems more like you have a type.”  
  
Rose huffs, “my crush... it never would’ve happened if we weren’t playing that damn singing game. Chloé was right. The heart wants what it wants when it wants it. I _felt_ my heart skip a beat when I heard her sing for the first time. And we—” She sighs. “I guess my shame came from the fact that I always sort of felt like Juleka was perfect. Tall, pretty, kind, has the most understanding family on the planet. I don’t know what Juleka identifies as and I didn’t—I don’t wanna make things complicated for her. My head and heart were at war telling me I wasn’t good enough. It might’ve physically made me ill at one point.” Kim whistles. “When that akumatization made me blurt out my crush I was... well, crushed. I was convinced it was a secret I had to keep until the end of time, and then some. I still don’t wanna ruin my friendship with her, even though I’m pretty sure I already did ghosting her like I have.”  
  
“I don’t know her so I can’t answer for her. But if she’s kind like you say she is I’m sure she’ll forgive you.”  
  
“I don’t deserve to be forgiven! Don’t you see? I’m a terrible person!”  
  
“You’re not! You’re just confused! Or you were confused.”  
  
Rose shakes her head, “I’m the absolute worst! I’m—” The blonde suddenly stops walking then lurches upright.  
  
Kim looks over his shoulder then stops walking, “Rose?”  
  
Her eyes glow yellow, “aw hell.” He cups his hands around his mouth. “ _Akuma_!” People start screaming as they run around. An akuma flies into Rose’s right earring. The butterfly mask forms over her eyes briefly before the purple ooze overtakes her body.  
  
🐢  
  
A gasp. “ _Loveless seems fitting, love is overrated anyway. I’ll give you the power to take the love from everyone! Doesn’t that sound great? I just need a teensy favor in return. You see that annoying dragon is mucking up my plans so I’m gonna need you to find out what her Miraculous is then take it from her and give it to an akuma. Seems like more than a fair deal to me._ ”  
  
Rose nods as she transforms. When the purple ooze dissolves, Rose—Loveless—has purple skin, purple eyes, her hair is black tied up in a bun, black broken hearts on her cheeks, and she’s wearing a black ballet leotard that has a purple broken heart on the center with a matching black tutu and black heart halves for wings, black knee high steel toe boots, and a broken heart wand in her left hand. “Time to break some hearts~” Loveless twirls her wand, “who to hit first?” Her eyes widen before she flies off.  
  
Locating Nathaniel and Marc isn’t hard. Their love is calling out like a beacon. It’s sickening. That’s a flame she needs to extinguish. They’re huddled together hiding under a table.  
  
Loveless drops down in front of the table and lifts it with one hand. “Bonjour!” They look up at her in horror, “your love disgusts me. Mocking me with its mere presence.” She points her wand at them, “it’s gotta go.”  
  
“Rose, you—”  
  
“Maybe you missed the memo, Dear Nathaniel, ‘Rose’ isn’t here right now. What stands before you is Loveless!” She bops him on the head with the wand and he turns purple.  
  
“N-Nathaniel?” He turns to Marc then touches their arm, and Marc slowly starts turning purple.  
  
“Excellent! Spread the... what’s the opposite of love? I mean, hate is too strong—” She shrugs, “oh well, spread the anti-love! Wait, spread the loveless-ness!” She pauses then shrugs again, “whatever, just go.” Marc and Nathaniel get up from under the table and march off. Loveless exhales deeply, “that’s better. No more love stifling me. Let’s find more love to crush! _Ooh_. That was a terrible pun.”  
  
“Can’t believe a damn akuma is here and I’m stuck with _you_.”  
  
Wayhem rolls his eyes, “not all that thrilled about the company either.”  
  
“Chloé Bourgeois!” The blonde looks up at the akumatization, “ _you’re in love_. How sweet! Though I’m surprised you have enough space in your heart to love anyone who isn’t you.” Chloé lets out an outraged gasp. Loveless blinks then turns to the blond beside Chloé, “ _and so are you_!” Wayhem’s eyes widen and he blushes. “It’s embarrassing, isn’t it? Don’t worry, you won’t be bothered by that pesky feeling any longer!” Before she can bring her wand down on Wayhem’s head a _horseshoe_ knocks the wand out of Loveless’ hand. “What the—”  
  
The horseshoe falls into a portal then reappears out another portal right into a brown horse’s hand.  
  
Chloé’s jaw drops, “oh you’ve _got_ to be kidding.”  
  
The butterfly mask appears over Loveless’ eyes, “another one.” Mme. Papillion’s voice drawls, “just what I need.” The mask disappears. “I’m sensing a lot of love out of you~” Loveless sing-songs. “I’m also sensing a lot of hurt. I promise I’ll make you feel a lot better.”  
  
“Fat chance of that. I’ve seen your handiwork. Love sometimes hurts.”  
  
Loveless picks up her wand, “that sounds like a bad song title! Why should love hurt?” She twirls her wand. “Why should we fell love at all?” Chloé uses the newcomer’s presence to slip away from the akumatization.  
  
“You were hurt.”  
  
“It’s none of your business what I was or wasn’t!” She charges at the horse who takes a step back and disappears. Loveless stops running then looks around, “portals.” She turns around noticing Chloé is gone, “hmm, I’ll just take care of you now and find Chloé later.” She walks over to Wayhem then bops him on the head, “no more painful love for you, Wayhem LaCroix! Rejoice!”  
  
Now purple, Wayhem looks up at her in awe. “I’ve never felt so light~”  
  
“Go spread that feeling!” Loveless taps her wand in her hand. “This is taking too long. I’ll just hit everyone at once and whoever is in love will get affected.” She turns around and sees Juleka in the doorway.  
  
“R-Rose?”  
  
“Juleka!” The purple-haired teen moves her hair away from her left eye. Loveless freezes. What the hell? She isn’t supposed to feel anything! Why is her heart pounding? When Juleka takes a step forward, Loveless brings her wand up. “D-Don’t move.” Her voice cracks a bit.  
  
Juleka holds her arms up but not before tucking her hair behind her ear so both her eyes are still visible, “I’m not gonna do anything.”  
  
“You’re already doing something just standing there!” Loveless hisses.  
  
“I did this to you.”  
  
“N-No! _I did this to myself_!” She shakes her head then keeps the wand raised taking a step backward, “s-stay away, you’re messing with my head!”  
  
“Rose, we need to talk.”  
  
“‘Rose’ was a coward. I am Loveless!”  
  
“You’re an even bigger coward trying to run away from me.”  
  
Loveless’ eyes widen, “I-I’m trying to keep you from feeling pain!”  
  
“Seeing you like this is causing me pain!”  
  
Loveless’ eyes widen further then the butterfly mask appears over her eyes. Her grip on her wand tightens and she raises it higher. Before she can (presumably) fire, Fēngbào swoops in and grabs her in the princess carry then dashes away.  
  
“ _No_!” Loveless screams, mask gone. “ _Bring. Her. Back_!”  
  
“Fēngbào.” Juleka gasps, holding onto the dragon’s neck, “we gotta help Rose.”  
  
“Definitely. What the hell happened?”  
  
“I don’t know. A kid in my class yelled there was an akuma and that it was my best friend so I went to check it out.” Juleka groans, “that wasn’t very smart of me.”  
  
“Ordinarily I’d agree but you seem to be her weakness, and I’d hate to sound insensitive but we can use that weakness to our advantage.”  
  
“I’m in. That butterfly bitch is gonna regret messing with Rose.”  
  
🐢  
  
“This is all my fault.” Kim groans, “if I hadn’t opened my mouth Rose wouldn’t be... _that_.”  
  
“I’m sure an akuma would’ve gotten someone else.” Ivan remarks.  
  
“Merci, man. That _really_ cheered me up.”  
  
“Will you idiots shut up?” Chloé hisses.  
  
“You’re the one who should shut up. If akuma-Rose is hunting love and you’re in love, you’re gonna make us all targets.”  
  
“Cram it, Kubdel. Not my fault my love is perfect.” Chloé sighs lovingly. Alix rolls her eyes. “How can I not fall for her? Someone as utterly exceptional as me can only have the best love interest around. She’ll save us all, you’ll see.”  
  
“Right, speaking of that...? You said you saw a horse?” Ivan asks.  
  
“That’s right. They had a horsehoe or something. Didn’t get a good look at their face or their mask. Doesn’t matter, they’re nowhere near as amazing as Fēngbào.” The three of them shake their heads. “Wait a minute! I just realized something. The only people in Fontainebleau today are quatrième students of François Düpont. That means if Fēngbào is _here_ , she’s our age and in our school!” Ivan, Kim, and Alix gasp.  
  
“Holy shit, you’re right!” Kim utters. “We might be _classmates_ with a superhero! That’s the coolest thing ever!”  
  
“Oh please.” Chloé waves Kim off, “none of the girls in our class are as fabulous as—” Her eyes widen, “ _oh_.” Her eyebrows furrow. The only girl in their class halfway as fabulous as Chloé herself was Tsurugi (well, there was also Sabrina but there’s no way in hell she’s superhero material), but Chloé saw the blue-haired teen with Fēngbào on her birthday and then again when that neanderthal prick was akumatized. _Plus_ , Tsurugi’s on the short side while Fēngbào _isn’t_. Then again, again, magic.  
  
Unless the magic turned the least fabulous girl in their class into a badass superhero worth of Chloé’s love.  
  
But who would _that_ be?  
  
Or maybe Fēngbào wasn’t in their class?  
  
There _are_ six other quatrième classes in the school, after all.  
  
Damn, she’ll have to get Sabrina and Lila to make a list so she can check all her bases. One way or another, she’s gonna find out Fēngbào’s identity. She may not like what she finds, but at least she’ll know.  
  
“You really think that’s a possibility?” Alix skeptically asks. Chloé glares at the pink-haired teen, “I mean, magic is unexplainable. Just because Fēngbào is here with us – if she even is here – doesn’t mean she’s our age. Doesn’t even mean she’s human. She could’ve show up because of the akuma-Rose.”  
  
“Then explain how she gets to our school so quickly?”  
  
“Considering you’re a student there? And you have record setting cause of akumatization numbers? I don’t need to explain it.”  
  
“What about Ricochet and the shit that went on yesterday?” Alix frowns, “and I’ll have you know, Mlle. Alix Kubdel, I haven’t caused an akumatization since my birthday!”  
  
“Today’s the 23rd. So it’s been what two weeks since your birthday? You’ll slip up. You’re overdue.”  
  
“Whatever. I’m not here for your skepticism or negativity, Kubdel.”  
  
A portal appears beside Alix and the horse pops out of it, and they all scream. “Quiet!” They hiss. It takes them a few seconds to comply, “I take it you haven’t seen the akumatization?” They all shake their heads, “damn.” They jump back into the portal which disappears behind them.  
  
“ _Ooh_!” Kim blurts out, “that means we might have four superhero classmates!” He gushes. Ivan gushes alongside him. Alix and Chloé shakes their head with a sigh then glare at each other and fold their arms over their chest looking in opposite directions.  
  
🐢  
  
“Adrien Agreste~” Loveless sing-songs, “let’s get that pesky love out of your system~” She flies down toward him ready to bop him on the head with her wand when Fēngbào appears out of nowhere in front of Adrien parrying Loveless’ wand with her sword. “You again!” She screeches.  
  
“Now would be a good time to get out of here!”  
  
Adrien snaps out of his stupor nodding, “r-right!” He nearly stumbles as he runs out of the room.  
  
“You annoying lizard!”  
  
“I’m a dragon!”  
  
“They’re in the same species family!” Fēngbào knocks the wand out of Loveless’ hand. “Where did you put Juleka?”  
  
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Loveless growls. “C’mon you twisted pixie, you wanna destroy innocent teenage love you’re gonna go through me.”  
  
“I don’t feel any love from you!” Loveless’ eyes narrow, “wait... that’s not true.” Her eyes widen. “I’m sensing all different sorts of love just not...” The wand floats off the ground then flies into Loveless’ hand, “I’ve been looking at this all wrong! I’m gonna destroy every kind of love!” She holds her wand high in the air and it pulses before purple heart-shaped smoke shoots out of the wand surrounding it. She waves the wand in the air and the smoke blankets the room. Before it can hit Fēngbào, a bubble shield materializes in front of her and she sees the smoke surrounding it.  
  
“That was _very good_ timing.” She looks over her shoulder at Ricochet, also in the shield with Adrien on the floor behind her wide-eyed.  
  
“Catch me if you can, Mlle. Lizard~” Loveless sing-songs.  
  
“Oh for fuck’s sake.” Fēngbào groans. “Dragon!”  
  
Ricochet dissolves the shield as the smoke clears then helps a blushing Adrien to his feet. “Merci. Pretty safe to assume she’s got the whole château out of love, huh?” Adrien asks.  
  
Fēngbào resheathes her sword, “she just might’ve. Damn. Let’s take a look around.”  
  
“I’ll have my shields ready.” Fēngbào nods, “stay close.” She tells Adrien who nods.  
  
They follow Fēngbào to a room with a small door, she opens it and Juleka comes tumbling out. “Are you okay?”  
  
“Yeah. Think I was too tall for that secret room, though.” Fēngbào and Ricochet help her up and the purple-haired teen stretches.  
  
“Okay, so here’s the update: Your friend probably sucked every feasible form of love from everyone in this château but us...” Juleka’s jaw drops, “upside? She’s still looking for you. So you being here helps us.”  
  
“Do you think—” A portal materializes in front of them then a horse jumps out of it and it closes.  
  
“Whew!” Fēngbào has her sword at the horse’s throat. “ _Oh_. That was... unexpected.”  
  
Fēngbào inches the sword closer. “Who are you?”  
  
“I’m not an enemy. I’m Equinizer.”  
  
“You’re _what_?”  
  
“I know. I know. Terrible name. Still working on it. I’m an ally. You’ve met my kwami, Kaalki already.” Fēngbào slowly retracts the sword. “I was thinking of my name being something ‘mare’ related—”  
  
“Worry about your name later. We need to find Loveless.”  
  
“That’ll be easy, just follow the purple zombie army.” They point ahead at the doorway as several purple students, one of which they recognize as Chloé, listlessly walking past.  
  
“Ah!” Everyone turns to Adrien, “Chloé’s in love with you, Fēngbào.”  
  
The dragon groans, “don’t remind me.”  
  
“Sorry but if she doesn’t react normally to seeing you then there’s our proof that Loveless did take everyone’s love.”  
  
Fēngbào groans as the others stare at her, “it’s a terrible idea but do it.”  
  
“But don’t touch her, it’ll spread to you.” Equinizer says.  
  
“I’ll prevent that.” Ricochet says, “see if calling out to her works. If not, I’ll bubble you and you can grab her.”  
  
Adrien nods, “Chlo!” Hearing her name called, the aforementioned girl stops walking then looks around. She peeks in the room then tilts her head to the right.  
  
“Adrien.”  
  
The blond blinks, “s-she... I can’t remember the last time she’s called me my name.” He gulps. “That’s... that’s gotta—the proof.”  
  
Juleka puts a hand on his shoulder, “we’ll get her back to normal and everyone else.” Adrien nods, blinking back tears. Their friendship _is_ one-sided. How did he not notice before? Chloé’s done so much for him. Helped him through all his crap and he was willing to discard her just to be around anyone else. It’s true she is, unfortunately, a terrible person at times but she’s never been terrible to him. Just hearing her not call him Adrikins nearly made him lose it. People do say you don’t know what you have until you lose it. Still, no matter how important Chloé or their friendship is to Adrien, it’s unhealthy. Hell, it’s toxic. Chloé has done great things to him but terrible things to pretty much everyone else; even Sabrina who is supposed to be her other best friend. Adrien has not only been privy to but complicit in a lot of terrible things Chloé has done. Then there’s the fact that every time they’re together Chloé decides what they do without even asking for his input. Is it even really a friendship if he doesn’t have a say in things?  
  
If they’re gonna be friends – not because of their parents or their family’s businesses – things need to change, badly.  
  
Adrien balls up his fists. _He_ needs to change.  
  
“Isn’t all that love stifling?” Chloé asks, tilting her head to the right as she approaches him. “Let me help you get rid of it.”  
  
“Adrien!” The group turns around to see Émilie standing in the doorway, “you’re safe!” She gasps, “what—did the akuma do this to Chloé?”  
  
“Oh don’t you worry about me. ‘Chloé’ is fine. More than fine. She became free of her utterly ridiculous infatuation—” She tilts her head at Fēngbào, “and her depressing familial love...” She glances at Adrien who flinches. “I’d offer to help you lighten your burden, Tante Émilie, but I’m not sensing anything from you.”  
  
Émilie smirks, “come now, Chloé, you should know me better than that. I’m an actress. When I heard a love-stealing akuma was in here I wasn’t gonna show my hand.”  
  
“But how much of it is really acting?”  
  
Émilie’s eyes narrow. “ _Maman_!” Adrien screams as Kim and Ivan each grab one of Émilie’s arms.  
  
“She’s supposed to be turning purple...” Equinizer whispers.  
  
“How long can you hold out, Tante Émilie? You’re not that good of an actress.” Émilie grits her teeth.  
  
“Well, well, well...” Loveless floats into the room, “you got the party started without me.” An army of purple individuals skulk into the room behind the akumatization. Loveless’ eyes widen when she spots Juleka but the mask appears over her eyes. “I-I know!” She growls then the mask disappears. “I’m only gonna say this once: Give me Juleka.”  
  
Ricochet creates a shield around the purple-haired teen. “We’re gonna respectfully decline.”  
  
Loveless grips her wand with both hand, “what you’re failing to understand is you’re severely outnumbered. No amount of weather magic, portals, or _bubbles_ are gonna fix that.” An ominous tune plays briefly as half of Loveless’ army disintegrates. “ _No_! What did you do!?”  
  
A purple Nǚ Wū drops down from the ceiling, “I’m really sick of you akumatizations interrupting my dates.” They (angrily) blow on their flute then the rest of the army dissolves.  
  
The mask reappears over Loveless’ eyes, “ _you_! You shouldn’t be able to use your powers in that state!” Mme. Papillion growls.  
  
“What _you_ failed to realize was, your own akumatization just strengthened my hatred for you!”  
  
Equinizer shakes their horseshoe, then a portal forms underneath Loveless. She drops into the portal screaming but she didn’t let go of the wand. “Dammit!” They groan, “huh. Hold on. What do you think of Colt?” Everyone starts yelling over one another while pointing at them. “Okay, _okay_! I’ll ask later!” They open another portal, “let’s go after her.” Equinizer gestures for them to jump in and they do.  
  
🐢  
  
Mylène heard a single scream when she was using the bathroom, then she heard a cacophony of screams before she could flush the toilet. Alya hopped off the sink to investigate then quickly shut the door informing Mylène of the akuma attack.  
  
Alya wanted to record but Mylène had to throw herself at the taller teen to prevent her from going. As they were sitting on the sink a cloud of purple smog seeped into the bathroom through the air vents. Before they could react, there was a black flash then the cloud was being absorbed into something neither of them could see.  
  
It was very bizarre.  
  
Alya groans pacing the floor, “just one more peek?”  
  
“ _No_. It’s dangerous, not to mention foolish. You don’t know what the akuma can do. I think...” Frowning, she looks around the bathroom. It almost feels like something is watching them. She turns back to Alya, “I think we should wait here.”  
  
Alya hops back on the sink, “ _fine_. You’re as bad as Nora. Wanna play a game on my phone? I charged it on the bus so we have 95% battery life to contend with until this akuma attack is over.”  
  
“I’ll turn my phone off to preserve it in case your phone dies before this is over. I charged my phone too so it’s at 83%.” They stare at each other, “we should use my phone first.” Alya nods in agreement then turns her phone off. “You know they made a mobile Ultimate Mecha Strike game? I downloaded it but haven’t gotten to try it yet.”  
  
“Let’s try it now.”  
  
🐢  
  
Nǚ Wū sighs as the group climbs out of the portal. “What did you do to Loveless’ army?” Equinizer asks.  
  
“Don’t worry about it. They’re fine.” They click their tongue, “what now?”  
  
“Juleka is gonna distract Loveless long enough for us to grab her wand and break it. Hopefully the akuma is in there. Did anyone notice anything in particular about Loveless that an akuma might be hiding in?” The others shake their heads. “Damn.” Fēngbào glances at Adrien, “how are you?”  
  
“I’m okay. Hopefully when everything gets fixed Chloé and my maman will be back to normal.” Ricochet opens her mouth but Fēngbào elbows her in the arm giving her a knowing look. With a sigh, Ricochet rolls her eyes.  
  
“At the risk of sounding like a jackass, we gotta—” Fēngbào makes a cut gesture at her throat, “ix-nay eelings-fay, to deal with Loveless.”  
  
“B-But I can’t just drop how I feel!” Adrien shouts then covers his mouth with his hands.  
  
“Aren’t you an actor?” Ricochet asks, “this task is in your wheelhouse.”  
  
Adrien lowers his hands and opens his mouth when a thought hits him. _“Change the narrative, Adrikins, then once you control your biggest scoop or whatever you can use your phone again.”_ He gasps. “I know how to beat Loveless!”  
  
“Don’t keep us in suspense, tell us.” Fēngbào says.  
  
“Loveless is in love with Juleka and even akumatized that’s not going away.” He turns to Juleka, “we need to change the narrative. We need to know Juleka’s feelings for Loveless.”

Juleka does a double take at the blond. “What?”  
  
“And you really think that’ll help?” Equinizer asks.  
  
“It’s worth a shot. The way I see it, either telling her you’re in love with her will disorient her long enough for us to find where the akuma is or you break her heart and it’ll enrage her into being reckless so we find out where the akuma is.”

“It’s risky...” Fēngbào muses glancing at Juleka, “how do you feel about her... the un-akumatized version?”  
  
“I-I don’t know! I love Rose, sure, we’ve known each other since we were four and I don’t remember a time where she wasn’t in my life, but I never thought about her romantically. I’ve never really thought about anyone romantically.”  
  
“You love her.” Fēngbào begins, “doesn’t matter how; context is irrelevant given the circumstances. If Adrien’s right, she’ll just need to hear those words from your mouth to throw her off. You two should have a real talk about your feelings when your friend is back to normal.” Juleka nods.  
  
“It’ll work—” Adrien blushes, rubbing the back of his neck when everyone stares at him. “I-I’ve seen lots of romance series.”  
  
“That addition doesn’t fill me with confidence about your strategy.” Ricochet tells him.  
  
Fēngbào rubs her hands together. “Too late to change tactics now. Plus, I’m kinda interested to see how it plays out. Alright Loverboy, let’s bag us an akuma.” Adrien points to himself, “yeah, you. You were targeted before because of your love, right? Amplify those feelings and bring Loveless to us.”  
  
“H-How?”  
  
“Try thinking about who you’re in love with and why?” Ricochet glares at Fēngbào, though it goes unnoticed by the others.  
  
“O-Okay. I’ll try.” He clears his throat, “her name is Kagami. Kagami Tsurugi. She’s...” He sighs lovingly, “she’s just amazing, but I—” He frowns, “I-I was recently informed by a classmate that my behavior regarding her was... scummy. I was acting like a crazed stalker doing whatever I could just to be near her. I felt entitled to her friendship because we were classmates and fencing teammates. I was going to apologize to her but then this happened.”  
  
“ _Why_ do you love her?” Ricochet asks.  
  
“How could I not? She’s beautiful and graceful and fierce and she took on an akumatization with kitchen knives and another with her bare hands! She’s the most amazing person ever! Half our school is practically in love with her.”  
  
“She does sound amazing~” Fēngbào gushes. Ricochet subtly pinches the dragon’s arm.  
  
🐢  
  
Loveless narrows her eyes. She feels Adrien Agreste’s love and she’d be a fool to ignore it but she’d be a bigger fool to fall for such an obvious trap.  
  
The butterfly mask appears over her eyes, “I get it. I’ll just have to outsmart them.” The mask disappears. The akumatization snaps her fingers and a purple blank-faced Émilie Graham de Vanily approaches her left side. “If they want to use Adrien to get to me, it’s only fair I use the same tactic.”  
  
On her right, Chloé nods. “You should have Tsurugi join us. That’ll _really_ mess with his head.”  
  
Loveless frowns, “did I—?” She tilts her head to the right, “I don’t remember everyone I hit.” The butterfly mask reappears over her eyes and Loveless grabs her head. “You could do that a little less _painfully_!” She shouts then the mask disappears. “What? I didn’t hit Kagami?” Her eyes narrow, “I missed a couple of our classmates. Their feelings aren’t coming through clear enough to find.”  
  
“Not surprising. They call Tsurugi an ‘Ice Queen,’ right?”  
  
Loveless balls up her fists, “we’re going.” Everyone nods following after her. She couldn’t find the minions the fox dealt with but she was keeping Chloé away from the group just in case they tried doing something like this. Then there was Kim, Ivan, and Adrien’s maman – which was a dollop of whipped cream on the ice cream sandwich. She also managed to find some people she missed and de-loved them. Loveless wordlessly sends a few of her minions in that direction as the rest take the other entrance.  
  
“It’s a cause for _shelle_ bration~” Loveless croons, “get it?”  
  
The minions who were grabbing Ricochet look around in confusion as bright purple heart-bubbles float in the air.  
  
The mask appears over her eyes. “ _Find out what that stupid rat does_!” Papillion hisses.  
  
Adrien and everyone else in the room also dissolves into heart-bubbles.  
  
Loveless growls, “this is becoming annoying.”  
  
“And we’re not done yet.” A voice sing-songs, “it’s a cause for _shelle_ bration, after all.”  
  
A shield forms over Loveless, “is this the best you can do?!”  
  
“Not quite.” Loveless flinches then turns around to see Juleka standing in the shield with her arms folded over her chest.  
  
“Are you out of your mind!? Do you know how unsafe it is for you here?”  
  
“And I suppose you’re gonna protect me, from yourself? You did this, Rose. All because you wouldn’t talk to me! What happened to us telling each other everything?”  
  
“This is different!” Loveless screams. “How was I supposed to tell my best friend I fell in love with her?!”  
  
“Like you just did. Rose, you know I love you—”  
  
“Not the same way.”  
  
“Not now.” Loveless blinks at her. “Who says I won’t develop feelings for you like that someday? Or some other kind of feelings? Either way, you’re supposed to be my best friend. We agreed nothing would ever jeopardize that. You avoiding me hurt.”  
  
“Hurting you was the last thing I wanted.”  
  
Purple ooze covers Loveless’ body, transforming Rose back into herself. The akuma flies out of Rose’s right earring and into Juleka’s necklace.  
  
“ _You really put her in there?!_ ” Fēngbào screams. “ _What happened to making a double!?”_  
  
“ _I didn’t think Papillion would do this!_ ” Nǚ Wū yells back.  
  
The butterfly mask forms over Juleka’s face. “You’re on, Loveless.” Papillion sing-songs. “Make her hurt.” The ooze covers Juleka transforming her into Loveless. She wordless points her wand at Rose.  
  
The blonde meeps. “Juleka, wait!”  
  
The shield dissolves and Ricochet drops down in front of Rose throwing her shield at Loveless Juleka who catches it with her free hand. Loveless’ grip on the shield dissolves it into purple dust. “How do I put this in kiddie terms? You fools goofed. This one has much more raw anger in her.” Papillion taunts through Loveless though the akumatization’s mouth isn’t moving. “Easier to control too.”  
  
The only difference between the two Lovelesses, aside from their obvious height difference, is Juleka Loveless has a broken heart choker on her neck. ~~At least they know where the akuma is.~~  
  
Loveless lifts her wand in the air and all the minions Nǚ Wū got rid of resurface behind her. “Well, shit.” Fēngbào mutters. When Ricochet bubbles Rose, Loveless’ eyes narrow.  
  
Ah. Papillion hadn’t figured out how to fix that little quirk.  
  
Seems like their love and friendship for one another couldn’t be spoiled by Papillion’s magic. That’s good to know.  
  
“You don’t wanna do this, Juleka.” Fēngbào says, “you said you wanted to bring down that butterfly bitch for messing with Rose. Remember?”  
  
Juleka lowers her hand then grips her wand with both hands.  
  
🐢  
  
“Stompp, you’re glowing!” Tikki gasps. The ox kwami looks at themselves in awe. “B-But I thought Plagg went to find his Chosen as Master couldn’t hand Sass out yesterday like he intended?” Fù had taken Sass with him yesterday intent on handing out the snake Miraculous after conversing with the current team, but he was being followed by feathers so he had to halt his plans. “I think you should wait—”  
  
“To quote Plagg: ‘the hell with that.’” They pick up their Miracle Box that turns into a tie dye purple and teal guitar pick, “My Intended needs me.” Then they zip off. Tikki sighs. It’s just her, Sass, and Orikko left. She could understand screwing with Master’s protocol and going to her Intended like the others, but she didn’t want to endanger the cluster piling magic on top of magic. Then again, they’ve proven to be strong enough to withstand any ill effects. Tikki wistfully looks out the window.  
  
🐢  
  
By the time Stompp arrived at Fontainebleau hiding in a room close to their Chosen, the purple-haired teen was absorbing some kind of purple aura from everyone nearby and sucking it into a broken heart wand. Then she pointed the wand at her own throat before hooking the wand against her choker.  
  
Purple ooze dissolves from the teen’s body, minus her neck  
  
There’s a brilliant purplish-black flash before the wand and choker both crack and the ooze leaves the teen’s neck. An unearthly breeze flows through everyone and everything in the room before the akuma, with two broken wings, awkwardly flutters out of the choker.  
  
Ricochet creates a shield around the akuma but it disintegrates within the shield before she can do anything else.  
  
“Well...” Equinizer muses, “that... certainly is one way to get rid of an akuma.”  
  
🐢  
  
Meanwhile, Mme. Papillion reels back as if she’s been burned, dropping to one knee then clutches her throat. “What the fuck?” She coughs then her eyes widen as she sees the blood in her hand.  
  
Turning her own magic against her akuma? She didn’t think it was possible!  
  
Shit. There’s still so many unknowns. She needs to find out more about that girl. This might have something to do with the magic Nooroo told her about that could cause her harm through her akumatizations. “Let’s land, Nooroo.” The butterfly kwami flies out of the brooch and Audrey catches her breath.  
  
Nooroo flies to the blonde’s face as the blonde stands. “Are you alright, Mme. Audrey?”  
  
“No. Looks like I have some more research to do.”  
  
🐢  
  
Surprisingly, the tour resumes after a purple light blankets the château restoring everything to normal. The perky tour guide duo have enough energy in the château for everyone.  
  
“Juleka, you fought through Mme. Papillion’s akumatization?!” Alya asks.  
  
“She was _amazing_!” Rose gushes, “I know Captain Couffaine practices magic on top of her pirate stuff but before these akuma attacks started last year I just thought it was one of her quirks. Never would’ve thought it would’ve ever come in handy. By the way Juleka, I-I’m sorry for being bitchy akumatized and cowardly when I wasn’t. If you still want to tolerate me, can we talk at the usual place?”  
  
The purple-haired teen ruffles Rose’s hair, “sure.”  
  
“I still can’t believe Papillion had you two share an akumatization.” Mylène muses. “But it sounds like I made the right call staying in the bathroom.”  
  
“Yeah, yeah.” Alya agrees, “but we’re one of the only people who didn’t see what happened.”  
  
“Although that part in particular was cool, the rest of it...?” Rose shakes her head, “not so much.”  
  
“Perhaps you can regale us the whole story?” Kagami asks.  
  
“Absolutely!” Rose chirps.  
  
“K-Kagami?” Adrien bounds over to her and gets a not so subtle push from Lila. “I-I wanted to apologize to you.”  
  
The six girls stop walking, staring at Adrien. “What for?”  
  
“F-For acting like a... like a—”  
  
“Tool.” Alya supplies.  
  
“R-Right.” The blond admits. “I’ve been a jerk and the worst part was I didn’t even realize I was being a jerk. I don’t expect you to forgive me but I wanted to apologize.”  
  
“Okay but you’re not saying what you’re apologizing for.”  
  
“O-Oh!” Adrien clears his throat, “my behavior in your presence has toed the line of stalker-ish... stalker-y? Uh stalker-like and obsessive. I wanted to be near you but didn’t care how to achieve that goal so I did some stuff I’m not proud of. I-I told the team M. D’Argencourt said not to spar with you because I was the only one allowed to do that. They agreed because I’m the only one who is on your level. I told Mme. Bustier M. D’Argencourt said we need to work on team harmony so we needed to spend as much time together as we could, so she’d let me sit next to you. I only invited the class to the movie premiere because I wanted to see you dressed up. I...” He sighs, “I’m also the reason Brisbois got akumatized the first time.”  
  
Kagami’s eyes narrow, “you _what_?”  
  
“I paid him to be more of an ass than usual so I could swoop in and save you. Y-You weren’t supposed to take him down, so I guess I’m not... fully responsible for his akumatization—”  
  
“Holy shit, Agreste.” Alya gasps. “You didn’t toe the line, you straight-up were obsessed!”  
  
Kagami’s just staring at him expressionlessly, “say something.” Adrien pleads.  
  
Marinette slaps him, “ _you_ —ooh. Sorry, Kagami. Were you gonna...?”  
  
Kagami blinks. Staring at Adrien holding his reddened cheek in surprise then Marinette looking at her. “Oh.” She shakes her head, “I wanted to punch him, truth be told, but I have no intention of ever touching him again.”  
  
“Okay. Right. Probably for the best. I’ll do it for you.” Marinette punches Adrien in the face giving him a nosebleed that has the crowd gasping. The blond cups a hand under his bleeding nose gaping at the tall blue-haired teen, “you twisted fuck. Misery really loves company, huh? You two really deserve each other. And to think I wanted to give you the benefit of the doubt. You’re the worst. If you _ever_ come near Kagami again—”  
  
“I’ll call Nora and she’ll beat some sense into you.” Alya interrupts.  
  
“Then I’ll have my brother beat you up too.” Juleka adds.  
  
Mme. Mendeleiev makes her way over to the forming crowd, “what’s going on here?”  
  
“He’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing!” Marinette yells, “he’s been doing all sorts of shady shit under the guise of being a nice guy! He pretty much staked a claim on Kagami! He should get jail time for that, right?”  
  
“I don’t think he could get jail time for calling dibs on another human being, even though he _should_ , but with him personally knowing the mayor I doubt it’ll make it to court. What I can do, is give him detention for the rest of the school year depending on the ‘shady shit’ in question, and tell the other teachers not to put him three rows within Mlle. Tsurugi. I’d push for a class switch but with all the shit Damocles went through to make things the way they are, I don’t think he’s gonna do a damn thing about it. I could also call his parents but I don’t think that’ll do much, if it does anything.”  
  
“You should also have him removed from the fencing team. He shouldn’t be in a position to have any contact with her. Who knows how many times he’s faked a fall or cramp or injury or _whatever_ just to get her to help him up.” Everyone looks at Chloé in surprise. “What’s with the looks?”  
  
“All that is a good point...” Mèlodie says staring at the blond quizzically, “what’s surprising is _you_. Aren’t you like Adrien’s biggest cheerleader? It’s odd to hear you not on his side.”  
  
“Are you kidding? He has no side to be on. He’s 100% in the wrong. He’s crossed so many lines it’s not even funny.”  
  
“What about the shit you’ve done?” Alix pipes in.  
  
“Of course _you’d_ try to spin this on me.” The blonde rolls her eyes. “Fine. Let’s compare, shall we? All _I_ did was cause an akumatization – a single akumatization – to get a glimpse of Fēngbào so I could profess my love. Which I later realized was a terrible idea. A-And the next time I see Fēngbào I will apologize for it.” When everyone gapes at her once again, she clears her throat. “I had no plans on _stalking her_ or _trying to bar other people from being near her_. The shit he just confessed is all sorts of messed up. Not to mention _totally unflattering to people who associate themselves with you_!” She folds her arms over her chest glaring at Adrien who looks at the floor sadly.  
  
“What’s—” Émilie gasps, “Adrien, _your face_!” She runs over to her son cradling his head.  
  
“Right.” Mme. Mendeleiev pinches the bridge of her nose, “I forgot he had a parent here already. Mme. Graham—”  
  
“Who’s responsible for this!?” Émilie hisses.  
  
“I am. And he deserves much worse.”  
  
“Who the hell do you think you are laying a _finger_ on my gorgeous son?! He’s a fucking model for God’s sake! Do you have any idea how much concealer he’s gonna need to hide these bruises?”  
  
“What he _is_ , is a pile of scum. And maybe the outside will reflect his inside.”  
  
“What are you talking about? My Adrien has never done anything wrong in his life. He’s the Sunshine of Paris!”  
  
“Maybe if you’d take your fake Fendi sunglasses off your eyes you’d see clearer.”  
  
The class gasps and Émilie takes her sunglasses off and glares at Marinette, “ _excuse me_?”

“Your ‘sunshine’ is a lie. An asshole under false pretenses pulling the aw shucks innocent boy-next-door routine to hide his possessiveness and pettiness. He lied continuously to keep people away from my best friend, just so he could monopolize her time. He paid a sexist asshole teammate to be more obnoxious than usual so he could swoop in and play hero. And that’s only the stuff he admitted today! I wouldn’t be surprised if he caused as many akumatizations as Chloé did!”  
  
“ _Hey_! I haven’t caused an akumatization since my birthday!”  
  
“You know nothing about my son.”  
  
“Evidently, neither do you.”  
  
“Mme. Graham de Vanily, the three of us are going to have a conversation on the bus about all the punishments coming your son’s way. And I won’t be bribed, intimidated, pushed to the sight, or bought off like Damocles or Bustier. He’s in my homeroom now which means I’m responsible for him as well as the other twenty-three students in my class. If one of them acts like an entitled ass and gets no reprimanding it’ll encourage more terrible behavior.”  
  
“You think anyone will believe the word of one yelling girl versus my son?”  
  
“Maybe not but they’ll believe me.” Émilie glares at the woman. Émilie and Adrien are the last to board the bus and Mme. Mendeleiev makes sure they are at the front of the bus. Wayhem glances at Adrien and sighs as he head to the back of the bus. “I think it’s only fair you start, M. Agreste.” Mme. Mendeleiev says.  
  
“I can’t believe Adrikins is a creep!” Chloé wails, looking at the front of the bus at the trio.  
  
“Yeah. Never the one you’d expect.” Sabrina says shaking her head, “who do you think will get akumatized first? Tante Émilie or Oncle Gabriel?”  
  
Chloé taps her chin, “ooh. Tough choice. I’m gonna say Oncle Gabriel, I know Tante Émilie looks two seconds away from blowing her top but I bet when they tell Oncle Gabriel he’ll lose his shit.”  
  
“Ooh. That’s good. I’m gonna go with Tante Émilie. Because I believe she will blow her top before Oncle Gabriel does.”  
  
“Loser picks our new croissant place.” Sabrina nods then she and Chloé shake hands.  
  
Marinette and Alya each sit on a side of Kagami who stares at the controller in her hand, “what do I do?”  
  
“You just run up to other mechs and destroy them. You need some nice mindless violence to take your mind off... things. Plus, you broke the punching bags so the game is really all I see that can help.” Marinette explains.  
  
“I think she should tank. A—u-uh...” Nino rubs at his throat, “we have an opening and it puts her right in the fray.”  
  
Max hands his controller to Alya, “you want me to play too?”  
  
Nino nods handing Juleka his controller, “you four are unstoppable team.”  
  
“Mylène, do you wanna play? You can have my controller.”  
  
“O-Okay. How do I play?”  
  
Marinette rubs her hands together, “allow me to explain.”  
  
The whole class is surrounding the gaming system as Mylène, Juleka, Alya, and Kagami effortlessly cruise through the battalion.  
  
🐢  
  
Who would’ve thought _Adrien_... Adrien Agreste was capable of such deception? Félix hums, impressed. Oh how his maman _wished_ he was more like Adrien. Bet she won’t feel the same way once her sister informs her of what happened. But knowing Émilie Graham de Vanily Agreste, she’ll spin the story to make Adrien the victim.  
  
When they get off the bus the whole class, Chloé included, glare at Adrien as they go their own ways home. The trip lasted the whole school day, and then some. The akumatization did extend the trip by an hour but they managed to see most of the château. They even got to eat at the king’s table. When Félix gets off the bus, he goes to stand beside his aunt and cousin; they are his ride home after all, but he doesn’t stand too close. It isn’t surprising that Chloé and Sabrina are at the steps, with Chloé on the phone presumably calling for a ride. They were gonna ride with them but Félix doesn’t blame them. If he wasn’t going to their house, he’d hitch a ride with Chloé.  
  
Émilie pinches the bridge of her nose. “I can’t believe you, Adrien.”  
  
“I know, maman. My behavior was inexcusable.”  
  
Émilie rolls her eyes. “Your behavior was sloppy.” Both Adrien and Félix look up at the woman in surprise. “I’ve told you time and time again to never give up on what you want. You want this Tsurugi girl, then you’re gonna get her. Period.”  
  
“Maman, I-I _can’t_!”  
  
“What’s with that bullshit attitude? Not only can you but you will. You see, you’ve sunk so low the only thing you can do is bring her to your level. Make everything else in her life so miserable she’ll have no choice but to turn to the one bright spot, you.” They both exchange a glance before staring at the woman in horror. “Let me tell your papa everything. We’ll handle this. We still have to find a way to work with Tomoe Tsurugi anyhow.”  
  
“Tante Émilie?” She raises an eyebrow at Félix, “I was wondering if you had any advice for me pursing the woman of my dreams?”  
  
“Other than not doing what Adrien did? Let’s see... it all depends on what she’s like?”  
  
“I believe she’s as exemplary as Mlle. Tsurugi is.” Émilie hums, impressed. “Her name is Alya Césaire—”  
  
“Césaire?” Émilie’s eyes widen, “as in Marlena Césaire?” The blonde hums, “Audrey did tell me she has a beautiful daughter your age. She even hand-delivered the same girl an invite to the movie premiere. I need to see a picture to see for myself but overall I approve of your taste in women. Tell me more about her so we can plan for a double wedding.”


	6. The Descent of Adrien Agreste

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien’s life is falling apart after his confession at Fontainebleau, so it’s really no surprise he gets akumatized again. As for what he turns into...? Let’s just say it is a safe bet he’s officially lost it.

Marinette opens the boulangerie pâtissèrie door, and sees Alya and Kagami in the doorway holding boxes. “Xīn nián kuài lè!” They greet.  
  
“Xīn nián kuài lè!” She replies hugging both of them, “I’m so glad you two could make it!” When she releases them they walk inside and take their shoes off.  
  
“Hold up. I gotta say this before I forget. X-Xīn xiǎng shì chéng.”  
  
“Xiè xiè, Alya.”  
  
“I had two I couldn’t decide between.” Kagami clears her throat, “xiào kǒu cháng kāi—” Marinette blushes, “hé shēng yì xīng lóng.”  
  
“You didn’t tell me you were coming up with two! Now I gotta check the website for another one—”  
  
“Alya, _no_. You don’t have to. I appreciate you two just being here and dressing up for the occasion.”  
  
“Alya used it as an excuse to model your clothes.”  
  
“Girl, I’m wearing an MDC exclusive qipao. Etta and Ella had a field day doing my hair. Is it even? They wouldn’t let me look.” The orange-haired teen twirls around in her red and orange leaf-printed qipao; her hair is in four chignon buns. Kagami is wearing a red and black insect themed kimono and she has a dragonfly clip in her hair, pushing her bangs away from her face. “Speaking of which, how much do I owe you?”  
  
“What? ‘Owe me?’ You don’t owe me anything.”  
  
Alya makes a buzzer noise as she shakes her head, “best friend or not, I’m not gonna use your stuff for free. It’s a bad business tactic.”  
  
“I’m not gonna charge my best friend for borrowing an outfit to an event I invited her to.”  
  
“ _Marinette_ —”  
  
“ _Alya_!”  
  
“Relax, you two. We can figure out a compromise during our sleepover once the festivities are over.”  
  
“Welcome!” Sabine greets, “xīn nián kuài lè.”  
  
“Xīn nián kuài lè.” Kagami and Alya reply.  
  
“It’s so good to have you two here. Marinette was a little down mŭ qīn couldn’t make it. We’re setting her up on the laptop for a video call but it isn’t the same as having her with us.”  
  
Kagami pulls her bag in front of her and pulls out a mini kado matsu handing it to Sabine, “xiè xiè nǐ huān yíng wǒ dào nǐ jiā lái.” As Sabine takes it, Kagami pulls out a second one.  
  
“ _Oh_! You learned Mandarin just for today? Xiè xiè, Kagami. And these are lovely. I’ll set them outside. This is very thoughtful of you.”  
  
“You are sharing bits of your culture with me, I figured it’s fitting I do the same as I am also celebrating the holiday.”  
  
“I-I only learned a few Mandarin phrases and it boggles my mind I didn’t learn how to verbally express my gratitude for being here, but—” Alya bows, “I looked up some Lunar New Year customs. I appreciate you inviting us over, Mme. Cheng.” She holds up her box, “my ma made nian gao and she says Xīn nián kuài lè as well. She also grateful to you for getting her to try baking.”  
  
“My goodness! Xiè xiè, Alya. The thought you two put into coming here is amazing. It’s making me want to come over to your places to celebrate your holidays with you.”  
  
“I’ll pass along the memo to my family.”  
  
“As will I. Oh.” Kagami holds her box toward Sabine, “kaasan and I bought a variety pack of mochi flavors. We didn’t want to endanger your family with a first attempt at baking.”  
  
“Oh. Uh... xiè xiè, Kagami. That was... considerate...?”  
  
Tom happily makes his way over. “Xīn nián kuài lè!”  
  
“Xīn nián kuài lè!” Alya and Kagami reply.  
  
“Oh.” He looks over at everything in Sabine’s hands, “do... do you need help, Honey?” She nods and he takes the kado matsu. “Ooh. I’ve seen these before. I know just where to put them!” He’s wearing a red tang suit with gold-yellow coins on them. He bows his head then walks over to the display.  
  
Marinette grabs each of her best friend’s hands as they walk into the living room. There’s a group of people (presumably members of Marinette’s family on her mom’s side) talking. There’s a grey-haired woman on the laptop on the table in the center of the room. She has a bored expression until she sees Marinette and she smiles brightly. Marinette begins speaking rapidly in Mandarin with the woman speaking back just as quickly. Marinette turns to them, “I’m just introducing you to my nǎi nai, Ying Cheng.”  
  
The woman waves and they wave back. She says something to Marinette who blushes briefly and shakes her head. “I don’t need a translator to know she just asked which of us is Marinette’s girlfriend.” Alya whispers to Kagami who nods in agreement.  
  
“Hmm...” The woman clears her throat, saying something before pointing at Kagami, “Sword.” She says in French, “Camera.” She points at Alya. The man on the camera beside her chuckles. Marinette nods then the woman smiles.  
  
“Why am I always getting nicknamed ‘Camera’ or ‘Photo?’” Alya sighs, “I need a new hobby.”  
  
“This is my dà shū, uh uncle... great-uncle, Wang Cheng. He and nǎi nai have cooking competitions all the time. They sent cookies for us to try since they couldn’t come themselves.”  
  
Alya rubs her hands together. “let’s do it. I didn’t eat before I got here so I’m ready to try everything. And I brought some allergy medication and an epi-pen just in case something doesn’t agree with me. Or one of you guys. Helps having three sisters sometimes.” Alya puts an arm around each of them, “let’s eat!”  
  
 **👑  
  
** Juleka wakes up to something landing on her face. She pats around her face for a second then feels something triangular on her nose. Squinting, the purple-haired teen blearily looks at the swirled teal and purple pick in her hands. Huh. It felt... heavier than just a pick. Or that it wasn’t just this that fell on her.  
  
“ _Jules_!” Luka yells. “Time to get up for school!”  
  
“ _I’m up_!” She yells back. Grumbling to herself, she sits up then freezes when something falls into her lap. Blinking, she picks up the ring examining it. Odd. Where did it... come from?  
  
“Bonjour, Intended.” Juleka stares at the small blue ox? bull? – a blue horned thing... floats in front of her face. Her eyes widen.  
  
‘W-Wha—?” She rubs her eyes then pushes her bangs out of her face to make sure she’s seeing clearly, “am I seeing things?”  
  
“I assure you, you are not. Or rather, you are.” The blue... thing inclines its head. “My name is Stompp, Intended. I’m your kwami. I will amplify your powers of sonokinesis.”  
  
“Wait— _what_? You’re gonna amplify my what now?”  
  
“There is the power of sonokinesis already resonating within you. It’s a rare thing for an Intended to already have magic prior to partnering up with their kwami.”  
  
“Magic? No, no. You’re mistaking me for my brother. _I_ don’t have magic.”  
  
“Untrue. I sense the same magic within you.”  
  
“Uh-huh, and my so-called ‘magic’ involves this sono... thing you mentioned?”  
  
“Sonokinesis? It’s influence over sound.”  
  
“Sound... _ah_. That must be why Luka’s always going on about people’s inner harmonies and shit. B-But I can’t hear any music within anyone like he can.”  
  
“Have you tried to?”  
  
“Well, no but would I even need to try? It just comes to Luka. Are you sure you got the right sibling?”  
  
“Admittedly, I am... uncertain which of you is my true Intended. Your brother’s aura resonates with me as well as yours but _your_ soul called out to me the other day when you were akumatized, and although I could not do much then beside watch, you handled yourself mighty well.”  
  
“That was four days ago.”  
  
“I’ve been observing you and your brother since then, trying to figure out my best course of action. You appear to need a power boost more so than he does.”  
  
“Be that as it may, we might as well let Luka know we have an extra mouth to feed now...” She pauses to stare at Stompp, “you _do_ eat, right?” Stompp nods. “Good. Luka, come in here a sec!”  
  
 **👑  
  
** Mylène looks around with narrowed eyes.  
  
Juleka gets to her locker looking at the rainbow-haired teen. “What’s up with her?”  
  
“She said something’s been following her since Thursday. Probably a spirit of an old king or something from Fontainebleau.” Alya answers with a shrug.  
  
“ _Ah_. Dope. My maman performed an exorcism once. Want her to check you out?”  
  
“Would she?” Mylène asks, perking up.  
  
“Definitely.”  
  
“Do exorcisms generally have witnesses because I kinda wanna see what’s gonna happen...?” Marinette confesses.  
  
“I dunno. I’ll ask. You’re all welcome all the same.”  
  
“You live on a houseboat right? That’s totally rocking—” Marinette facepalms and groans, “that was a terrible unintentional pun.”  
  
“You live in a boulangerie pâtissèrie, that’s pretty awesome in my book.”  
  
“I volunteer our next sleepover to be at Juleka’s.” Alya says, “all in favor?” Mylène, Marinette, Kagami, and Alya raise their hands. “If it’s cool with you? Which I should’ve asked before volunteering.”  
  
Juleka chuckles, “it’s all good. My maman’ll flip. She’s always going on about how I need to have more friends over, but I think she just wants more test subjects to practice her magic on.”  
  
“Either way, I’m so in.” Alya says.  
  
“Everyone can sleepover at my place next.” Mylène says.  
  
“If you guys don’t mind three noisy-ass sisters barging in every fifteen seconds and possibly sleeping on the living room floor, we could have a sleepover at the apartment?” Alya states.  
  
“I don’t mind.” Mylène replies and the others nod along with her. They all turn to Kagami but before she can open her mouth the bell rings and the five of them make their way to Mme. Mendeleiev’s class. Mylène taps her chin, “I wonder what’s gonna happen to Mme. Bustier’s seating arrangements?”  
  
Adrien’s already in the classroom, in the back right seated by himself. He watches Mylène, Marinette, Juleka, Alya, and Kagami enter the class and occupy the second and third row on the left side. Why did he open his damn big mouth? If he just gave them a summary of what he did he wouldn’t be in this predicament. He _knows_ M. D’Argencourt is gonna kick him off the team indefinitely; if not permanently. ~~His parents definitely won’t take that news well.~~ The only bright spot is D’Argencourt will almost definitely make sure Brisbois doesn’t return to the team either having going along with Adrien’s plan. (If that idiot had just gone along with the plan to a T none of this would’ve happened!)  
  
Chloé walks in the classroom, for once not bothering with a glance at Kagami or the others then marches right up to his desk. “Okay Adrikins—” She shakes her head, “no. Adri _en_. I’m done with the silent treatment.” The other students look over at them. “You fucked up big time, far worse than anything I’ve ever done but this isn’t about me. And to think you had the absofuckinglute _gall_ to lecture me about my behavior? But, again, we’re not talking about me.” She takes a deep breath. “Apologies aren’t gonna help you here, you need to earn back the trust and respect of everyone in this classroom. Your possessive behavior was the furthest thing from cute. I get it! Tsurugi is hot. We all know that! Doesn’t give you the right to claim her like she’s the best chair in the theatre.”  
  
Adrien looks around the class as more students stare in their direction. “Chloé, do you have to do this _now_?”  
  
“As a matter of fact I do because everyone needs to hear this. Until you stop treating beautiful young women like they’re collectibles, **no** girl is going to sit next to you. No girl is even gonna walk next to you. I brought it up with Mme. Mendeleiev and she agreed.”  
  
“What? Why would you—”  
  
“ _You know damn well why_! If there’s one thing I cannot tolerate, Adrien Agreste, aside from sequins which I will not get into because this is not the right time, it’s when a man believes he is owed something from a woman because he’s attracted to her!” The rest of the classroom claps. “You _know_ the shit I had to go through when those dignitaries would throw their much older sons at me! How could you even attempt to go through what you did!? Did you even _think_?” She takes a deep breath. “Whatever it’s done with. You’re gonna be sitting by yourself this week and when Prince Ali arrives on Monday, you’re sitting next to... um—what’s his name—?”  
  
“Ivan.” The class supplies.  
  
“Right. Merci. You’re sitting next to Ivan.” Chloé gestures to the aforementioned teen who gives a wave. “And when Ali gets here don’t speak to him. Don’t even _look_ at him. We need to make a good impression and you are incapable of that task currently. As class rep, it’s my job...” _Someone_ pointedly clears their throat, “and Sabrina’s... I guess, to make sure we all feel safe in class and none of us feel safe around you.”  
  
Adrien stands, “are you serious?! This isn’t fair! I make _one_ mistake—”  
  
“That’s where you’re wrong! You made a series of terrible mistakes for the same terrible reason! Not the same thing. And you wanna talk about ‘fair?’” Chloé points her finger in his face and he flinches, “you don’t know the meaning of the word, you fucking hypocrite! All our lives you thought yourself better than me and you’re a much better actor than I thought because you had me believing your lies. And, hey, the bright side is I guess we found out just _why_ no one wanted to be friends with you. And as it turns out, that had nothing to do with me. I wonder what else you pinned the blame on me for that you did to yourself?”  
  
“That’s not true.”  
  
“Oh? _Please enlighten me then_.” Adrien scowls, “you can’t, can you? I was gonna say how much this hurt and how you were always there for me but I don’t even know if either statement is true. I don’t know who you are anymore or maybe I never knew you at all.”  
  
“Chlo... come on Chloé, you can’t be serious! You _know_ me! We’ve always been like this.” He crosses his pointer and middle finger.  
  
Chloé shakes her head. “keep trying to convince yourself if you want but all I know is I can’t trust you.” Frowning, Chloé makes her way down the stairs to her seat.  
  
Adrien looks around the class noticing all the girls are in the front of the room looking at him with various expressions of disgust and anger.  
  
Scowling, he sits down. Suddenly, his maman’s plans don’t seem so far-fetched anymore.  
  
The rest of the school day goes by with every girl he makes eye contact with glare at him. Some flipped him off while glaring. News travels quickly at the school. Like an akumatization happening, quickly.  
  
When he makes his way to the gymnasium there’s a blockage of girls in his way. (D’Argencourt was mysteriously absent during physical education and Adrien was sat on the bleachers, by himself.) “You have no business here, Agreste.” The “lead” girl, standing in the middle of the blockade, says folding her arms over her chest. “M. D’Argencourt doesn’t want or need scum like you on our fencing team. You sullied his good name! You’re lucky he won’t sue for defamation!” Her eyes narrow.  
  
“I can’t believe we were ever attracted to you, you disgusting pig.” A girl says then physically shudders in disgust. The other girls murmur among one another, calling him similar insults each making disgusted faces at him.  
  
“Can’t I speak to M. D’Argencourt?”  
  
“No.” Lead girl says pointing behind him, “you have nothing to say that he wants or needs to hear. Now leave. You will not interrupt Mlle. Tsurugi nor the rest of us from the noble art of fencing.” The other girls nod in agreement.  
  
“We were taught by the great Kagami Tsurugi so we can take you out if you force our hand.” Another girl says.  
  
Adrien scowls but walks away.  
  
He didn’t even go in the cafeteria after Sabrina informed him he wasn’t welcome there. So he essentially ruined his life just to get viewed a little better in Kagami’s eyes. Damn his all or nothing attitude.  
  
Maybe he should look into a school transfer? Since he can’t get out of the class. Even Félix didn’t come near him all day. Of course the justification behind that is his cousin protecting his own ass. Félix Fucking Graham de Vanily was a “gentleman” first and a student second. He had following the same size as Adrien’s – he used to be referred to as The Moodier Adrien but they might just now refer to him as The Indecent Félix.  
  
As he exits the building, he sees Lila leaning against the railing glaring at her phone. “Lila?”  
  
Her eyes light up then narrow. “Oh... it’s you.”  
  
Adrien sighs, “you have a problem with me too?”  
  
“Why wouldn’t I, you entitled misogynistic asshat? You think I’d stick my neck out for you over another woman? Specifically a woman you wronged? Get over yourself. You aren’t that cute.” Adrien sighs. “You know, I used to think you were boring but man I have never been madder to be wrong. Now if you don’t mind...” She returns her attention to her phone.  
  
“How am I supposed to win back everyone’s trust if no one will give me a chance?”  
  
“You could publicly humiliate yourself? That’ll gain a couple of laughs and maybe some modicum of something.” She smirks at him, “I’m glad you weren’t able to switch classes. It must be killing you looking at what you can never have. I hope you suffer for this for a long, long time.” A car pulls up at the curb, “that’s me. Ciao, Asshole.”  
  
Adrien takes his phone out of his bag and stares at it, finger hovering over the call icon. “What’s the point?” His eyes widen as an akuma flies into his phone. He gasps as he feels the butterfly mask outline forming over his eyes.  
  
“ _Poor Monsieur Agreste, your life’s spiraling out of control and your kingdom has crumbled. Fear not. This doesn’t have to be The Descent of Adrien Agreste. This can be the ascension! The Ascent of King Adrien! If all the girls of François Düpont want to hate you... let’s give them a good reason to._ ”  
  
“H-How?”  
  
“ _By knocking their appointed queen off her pedestal. The king and queen are equally valuable pieces on the chess board but the queen has more power. And more power means more people willing to sacrifice themselves to keep her safe. But little do they know it’s the king that’s vital to their survival because once king isn’t protected, it’s game over. She took your spot at the top of the school so it’s only right you take it back. You’re gonna take out Kagami Tsurugi. Wait, that sounded final. I mean, you’re gonna take her_ down _. Not out. Don’t kill her, don’t even harm her. I have plans for that girl, you see. If you publicly ruin her reputation as the baddest student at the school it might make her easier to akumatize. The school will lose all love for her and you’ll regain your top spot. But, my King, you’re going to need to rebuild the kingdom first. Oh and get that damn dragon and the annoying dog-thing’s Miraculouses while you’re at it?_ ”  
  
Adrien’s eyes narrow, “I’ll do what I can.” Then the purple ooze overtakes his body. **  
  
**👑  
  
Kagami wakes up to the sound of her phone’s alarm – some generic upbeat song Marinette was lowkey obsessed with. She claimed it “fostered positivity” for the day and helped her stay awake.  
  
Beside her, Wayzz happily floats off her pillow humming along to the song as they take the alarm off. “Ohayou, Kagami-san, today’s another beautiful morning!”  
  
Kagami glares at the ceiling putting an arm across her eyes, “how do you have so much energy? You just woke up.”  
  
Wayzz lands on her forehead looking upside down at her as she moves her arm. “I don’t know. I just do. Time to get up and get ready for school!” They chirp. Kagami yawns then rubs her eyes.  
  
Her phone rings then Wayzz floats over to the nightstand to grab the phone then hand it to Kagami. She squints at the screen seeing Alya’s picture along with her phone number. Kagami was grateful her two best friends didn’t turn out to be morning people either.  
 **  
**Sitting up groggily, she accepts the phone call. “Mo—Bon—” She yawns loudly.  
  
She hears Alya and Marinette chuckling in her ear. “Just woke up. Huh?” Alya asks.  
  
“Hmm. My alarm just went off about a minute ago.”  
  
Alya laughs, “you sound like Marinette.”  
  
As if one cue Marinette yawns, “what wakes you up?” She sleepily asks Alya.  
  
“My sisters.” The bespectacled teen deadpans. “You?”  
  
“I need—” Marinette stifles another yawn, “at least 32 fl oz of caffeine, preferably coffee.”  
  
“Seriously? You and Nora, man. You two drink _that much_ coffee on a semi-regular basis and are still tall! How is it fair?”  
  
“How could I not drink coffee? I live in a boulangerie pâtissèrie. My family practically bleeds the stuff. Tea too. Mmmm, I think I’m gonna have some tea for breakfast.”  
  
“Alya, perhaps you haven’t hit your growth spurt yet? I mean, your family – excusing your papa – are tall.” The three of them gasp.  
  
“I’m gonna be short like my old man!” Alya groans.  
  
All three of their phones chirp and Kagami moves her phone from her ear to stare at it, or the group text she just received. “Uh... you looking at this?” Marinette asks. “An _invite_ to Sabrina Raincomprix’s fourteenth birthday party at Le Grand Paris tomorrow—no wait, _tonight_?”  
  
“A no boys allowed sleepover party.” Kagami reads on. “Who’s Sabrina?”  
  
“Good question.” Marinette replies.  
  
“You know... she’s the tiny, pale, orange-haired girl with the glasses? She’s like Chloé’s shadow.”  
  
Kagami and Marinette both hum, “why would we want to go to any party of _hers_?” The latter asks.  
  
“I don’t know. I mean, I’ve never spoken to her before. Honestly, I don’t think I’ve heard her speak either.” They can hear the shrug in Alya’s voice. “I’m gonna accept.”  
  
“You’re _what_!?” Marinette exclaims, “you don’t think Chloé would be there? Do you really wanna go to a sleepover that Chloé’s in?”  
  
“I’m not checking for Chloé.”  
  
“I agree. She’s not worth the effort. Let’s ‘foster positivity’ for a fellow classmate.”  
  
“This is a bad idea.” Marinette murmurs.  
  
“C’mon, MDC, you know you’re curious.”  
  
“I _am_ but—” Marinette growls, “fine! I’ll accept but if Chloé gives me any shit, I’m gonna scream.”  
  
After they say their goodbyes, Kagami gets out of bed, brushes her teeth and washes her face, then gets ready for her morning sparring session with her maman. She pads into the empty kitchen then frowns. “Kaasan?”  
  
She hears a single heavy footstep then grabs a knife off the knife block and chucks it in the direction of the movement.  
  
“ **Wow**.” A very familiar voice says, “so the knives weren’t just a one-off thing.”  
  
“Agreste.” She bites out inching toward the knife block again, “where is my maman?”  
  
“That’s the first time you’ve called me by my surname. What happened to ‘our family names not defining us?’” Adrien, clad in a _ridiculous_ squint-worthy bright gold and royal blue regal tunic with a goddamn golden crown, steps out from the doorway with Tomoe’s hands, mouth, and eyes bound to a chair. “Seemed a bit cruel to bound her eyes when she already can’t see but—” Kagami knocks the crown off Adrien’s head with...  
  
The blond looks down in disbelief at what hit him in the forehead.  
  
A cutting board.  
  
He wipes his bleeding forehead. Huh. Getting cut by a cutting board? There’s an irony in that.  
  
Kagami’s eyes are glowing green. Well, that was an... unexpected outcome. Mme. Papillion did say she suspected Kagami of being in tune with magic. This is just cementing the fact. Either way, he draws his sword. “En garde?”  
  
Her eyes return to normal and Kagami grabs _an umbrella_ from the shoe tray beside her, gripping it like a sabre, baring her teeth. “Prêtz.”  
  
Adrien smirks, rolling Tomoe’s chair out of the doorway, “allez!” They charge at each other and Kagami parries his overhead strike and kicks him in the stomach throwing off his balance. Then to add insult to injury pops the button on the umbrella extending its handle and trips him. He barely manages to roll out of the way of her foot before it collided with his face. She rushes at him and he barely manages to avoid every strike, when he blocks her strike bring their weapons downward to attempt a counter she punches him in the face with her left hand.  
  
Adrien resists the urge to cradle his aching cheek. That _hurt_! “You wanna fight dirty? Fine.” He snaps his fingers and over a dozen duplicates of him, all with swords, materialize. He laughs maliciously until Kagami picks up a chair then starts wailing on all his duplicates.  
  
Huh. You know, this is really just making him fall more in love with her.  
  
Her resourcefulness is admirable.  
  
He yelps when she chucks a large knife at him that he barely dodges by ducking. Adrien looks around realizing all his duplicates have been knocked unconscious.  
  
He shakes his head in awe. No. He has a job to do. Blowing her a kiss, he disappears in a puff of gold glitter as do his unconscious clones. Kagami immediately drops the umbrella then runs over to her mother still tied up then unties her.  
  
“When I get my bokken on that coward—!” Tomoe seethes.  
  
“I have a feeling he’ll reemerge at school targeting Marinette and Alya.”  
  
“What? Well don’t just stand there contending with me. Go save them.”  
  
“Ka—”  
  
“This more than counts as a morning spar. Hurry and get ready then protect your friends.” Kagami stares at Tomoe. “What are you waiting for? My permission? **Go**.” Kagami bows then sprints to the bathroom.  
  
By the time Nora and Alya pull up to Kagami’s building, Kagami has a large duffle bag she puts in the car before she hops in. “Bonjour. I appreciate this.”  
  
“You don’t look appreciative.”  
  
Alya elbows her sister then gives her a knowing look, “something happened.” She says, turning to Kagami.  
  
“An akumatized Adrien Agreste bound my maman to a rolling chair then proceeded to duel me in my kitchen.” Kagami cracks her knuckles, “he dies.”  
  
“Hell yeah! That’s what I’m talking about! Buckle up, Sabre.” Laughing, Nora starts driving.  
  
“ _Die_ —you’re speaking metaphorically, right?” Kagami shakes her head, “Kagami, you can’t just kill the dude. You’ll get serious jail time! Which means we won’t graduate or get into lycée together! If you gotta hurt him, which you really should because _what the fuck... is he on_ , I’ll accept a maiming or a critical albeit non-life-threatening injury.”  
  
“Then I’ll break his fingers.”  
  
“‘Break ‘em?’ Hell, cut them off if you have to.”  
  
“Nora! _Shh_! You’re not helping and I know it’s because you’re not trying to!”  
  
Instead of driving to the school, Nora parks the Anansi car in front of Sabine & Tom Boulangerie Pâtissèrie. The three of them gasp when they enter and see the shop is in disarray.  
  
Roland is on the floor groaning. Nora runs over to him helping him up, “what happened, man?”  
  
“That brat in the blinding gold clothes abducted my granddaughter!” He winces then grabs his back. “I never thought Gina would be right about anything. She said we should’ve put Tommy in some sports but I wouldn’t listen. It was embarrassing how fast that kid took my son out. Everyone else should be scattered around the shop.”  
  
Tom is halfway stuck inside the largest oven (which thankfully is not turned on). Sabine is tied to the top floor staircase. Gina is tied to the ceiling which is the door to Marinette’s bedroom. All of their bindings are gold silk ropes, just like Tomoe. They free all of them then get the full story on what happened.  
  
Adrien burst into the boulangerie pâtissèrie spouting some bullshit regaining his rightful place among his kingdom then said he needed a new queen to rule alongside him and he chose Marinette.  
  
Roland was taken out fairly easily – a tug-o’-war with Adrien’s sabre that had the man flail backwards right into the kitchen counter throwing his back out. Then Adrien bested Tom in fencing just as quick and had several duplicates he created stuff the man in the oven. Adrien and Gina were boxing and Gina would’ve beaten him had he not created a duplicate to hit her over the head with a chair. With the murderous look in her eyes and reminder of what happened with Livestream, Adrien simply had his duplicates dogpile on Sabine and tie her up.  
  
Once they were all taken care of he made his way to Marinette but none of them knew what happened aside from hearing a serious of loud thumps coming from the top floor. After the sounds ceased, they assumed he took off with Marinette.  
  
Kagami and Alya open the trap door into Marinette’s room and gasp as they look around. The bedroom’s destroyed. Piles upon piles of fabric are haphazardly strewn throughout the room. The wallpaper is coming off the wall in some places. One of Marinette’s mannequins is split in half diagonally. Hell, they were just here the other day for Lunar New Year and the subsequent sleepover.  
  
Kagami’s notices the tube of lip balm with a choker wrapped around it looking rather out-of-place on Marinette’s pillow. As Alya side-steps over some stuff inspecting the overall damage, Kagami makes her way over to the bed grabbing the lip balm sticking it in her pocket, then a small red dragon whishes into existence before her. It gasps then flies into Kagami’s jacket before Alya could see it.  
  
This must be Marinette’s kwami... and that means she was abducted without them.  
  
“I’m guessing this sabre in the floor is a tell.” Alya picks it up and hands it to Kagami who nods examining the sword, “if he’s ‘regaining his kingdom’ or whatever, he’s going to the school.”  
  
“He’ll be gunning for everyone who wronged him.”  
  
“He’ll be gunning for everyone in school then, except the fuckers who agreed with the despicable things he’s done.” Alya’s eyes widen, “the school’s paper! They wrote out _everything_ he told Mme. Mendeleiev.”  
  
“We’ll have to go but there’s something I need to tell you first.” Kagami takes the choker out of her pocket, “this _probably_ isn’t how you were supposed to find out, but... you’ll need to put this on.”  
  
Alya stares at the black choker that turns baby blue when she touches it. “What the fuck!?” A red _thing_ floats out of Kagami’s jacket. “ _Whoa_!”  
  
“Greetings.” The thing bows, “I am Longg, Fēngbào’s kwami. I grant her—”  
  
“All the powers that make her Fēngbào as well as her super-human speed, stamina, and strength.” Longg looks at her impressed. “B-But if you’re _here_ , that means Fēngbào _isn’t_.” Kagami inches the choker closer to Alya. “What are you—wait are you telling me I have to be Fēngbào? Where’s the—” She facepalms, “Marinette. Marinette is Fēngbào. How did I not see that? The height. The badassery! Oww man, I’m such an...” She narrows her eyes at Kagami. “Are you Nǚ Wū?”  
  
“Close. I’m Ricochet.”  
  
“Right. You couldn’t be Nǚ Wū. You were next to me when Nǚ Wū took out ‘Limelight.’”  
  
“Mlle. Alya, you and your kwami will be united soon but we must take care of Adrien Agreste.”  
  
“Damn right we’re gonna take care of that asshole.” Alya puts the choker on, it flashes gold briefly as do her eyes. “Do I have to click my heels together or something?”  
  
“You simply need to say Longg, tip the scales.”  
  
Alya nods, “Longg, tip the—” Her eyes widen, “wait a second. D-Did— _Did you say I’m getting a kwami_!?” She screams. Shushing her, Longg nods. “I’m gonna be a superhero on a team with my best friends? This is the coolest thing to ever happen to me!” She jumps in the air, “I’m so excited! What powers do I get? What’s my kwami? What color’s my suit—”  
  
“I will be more than happy to answer all I can once the situation is taken care of?”  
  
She rubs the back of her neck, “r-right. Sorry. Got a little excited by the fact that I’m gonna be a superhero.” She glances at Kagami, “so who’s Nǚ Wū?”  
  
“We don’t know yet. I have my suspicions but I’m not certain.”  
  
Alya nods, “Longg, tip the— _wait_.” Kagami turns to her, “let’s take the exit first, in case any of Marinette’s family or Nora come up to check on us.”  
  
“Good idea.”  
  
When they exit the boulangerie pâtissèrie declaring their plan, Nora is too busy helping Marinette’s parents and grandparents to stop them. Alya knows she’s gonna get an earful later but for now they have a job to do.  
  
“Longg, tip the scales!” Alya gasps as Longg flies into the choker. “This is so cool!”  
  
👑  
  
Suited up, Kagami and Alya arrive at François Düpont’s roof. Adrien has an honest-to-goodness throne his duplicates are surrounding. “He’s off his rocker.” Alya whispers – and it took her a little bit to stop gushing over the fact that she turned into an actual dragon. Wayzz told her, before Kagami transformed, that it was the best – not to mention only – way to protect Marinette’s identity.  
  
Wayhem is filing Adrien’s nails as Chloé stands before throne. Marinette is standing beside the throne on the left, in a ridiculous bright gold and teal extra poofy bouffant dress her artistic sensibilities must be revolting; her hands bound to golden chrome handcuffs. Doesn’t Adrien have fashion conscious parents? Why did Papillion allow him to create that!? Adrien holds up his other hand and Wayhem stops filing. “Chloé. Chlo. Chlobug. We’ve been through a lot together. Just about ten years, right?” The blue-eyed blonde narrows her eyes at him. Alya notices she also has the same golden chrome handcuffs as Marinette on. “As king, I need a trusted adviser and I appoint you.”  
  
“Go to hell, Agreste.”  
  
The green-eyed blond tsks, “again with the surname.” He sighs, “see? That’s not what an adviser would say. Come to think of it, you may not even need to speak.” He snaps his fingers and Marinette’s bound hands raise. She utters a string of swears as her hands move up and down; Chloé opens her mouth but gold strings coming from Marinette’s fingers create sutures that sew the blonde’s mouth shut. “Much better.”  
 **  
**One of the duplicates ushers a glaring, teary-eyed Chloé to Adrien’s other side. “T-There’s no sign of Kagami Tsurugi or Alya Césaire, My Lord.” Sabrina says bowing at the edge of the throne.  
  
“Then look harder.” The orange-haired teen flinches but nods and scurries away.  
  
They return to the boulangerie pâtissèrie through Marinette’s room and Kagami drops her transformation. “What are you doing?”  
  
“I can’t face him as Ricochet.” Kagami states picking up the abandoned sabre. “He’s looking for Kagami and that’s who he’s gonna get. If that misogynistic prick wants me to publicly wipe the floor with him, I will be extremely happy to oblige.” **  
  
**“You’re a badass through and through, no doubt about that, but even you can’t take him on when we don’t know everything he can do.”  
  
Kagami puts a hand on her shoulder, “I’ll have Fēngbào by my side.”  
  
“Wouldn’t Ricochet be a better choice? With the shielding?”  
  
“I believe I have a solution!” Wayzz interrupts tapping the bracelet on Kagami’s wrist. “Mlle. Alya, you have a strong spirit. I believe you could wield myself and Longg temporarily. Especially if you don’t have to do much fighting.”  
  
“Together?” Alya and Kagami echo.  
  
Wayzz nods, “as you’re already bonded with Longg, you simply say _Wayzz, shell on_ then bring your hands together and say _unify_.”  
  
“This entire time we could’ve merged powers? What about all the bs you were telling me about how we all couldn’t have our kwamis together because it was dangerous?”  
  
“It is but we have no choice. I wouldn’t bother bringing this up if you weren’t required in civilian form and both Fēngbào and Ricochet were also needed. I believe I can help. It’s worth a try at least.”  
  
Kagami takes the bracelet off and Alya puts it on her right wrist. The bespectacled teen brings her hands together. “Wayzz, shell on. _Unify_.” Kagami has to shield her eyes as Wayzz flies into the now aqua bracelet.  
  
When Kagami opens her eyes, Alya is still in dragon form but she has a hard shell that her wings are just above, and there are stripes of green on her scales. “This is _so_ badass.” She does a little dance.  
  
Kagami shakes her head with a chuckle, “remember to breathe, Alya.” Kagami frowns, “wait. You need a name.”  
  
Alya turns to her with a grin, “Snap.”  
  
“Snap?”  
  
“You know...” Alya opens and closes her hands like she’s mimicking a talking motion. “Turtles snap. There’s a snap turtle. A snap dragon.”  
  
“A snapdragon is a flower.”  
  
“Is it? Well, no one knows that but you.” Alya extends her wings, “let’s get back there.” Kagami nods.  
  
👑  
  
“Ohayou, Kagami-kun.” Adrien waves, “I’m challenging you to a duel in the gymnasium. If you somehow win, I’ll relinquish my akuma but **when** I win, you’ll become my girlfriend and we’ll rule the school like the world intended.” The camera pans out and Adrien moves it slowly focuses on the cheer squad and students who work the newspaper bound together against the bleachers, next are the students sitting in the bleachers all bound together and bound to their seats, following them is Marinette flipping Adrien off with her bound hands, after that is Chloé with blood dribbling down her stitched mouth angrily wringing out her ponytail; lastly Sabrina is in a gold and red outfit kneeling at the foot of the throne and Wayhem, in the same outfit, is kneeling on the other side. The camera moves back to Adrien’s smiling face. “Your king and our royal subjects await you!” He kisses the camera before it cuts out. **  
**  
“He’s fucking delusional.” Snap says shaking her head.  
  
“Don’t worry. I’ll bring him back to reality.”  
  
On Kagami’s other side Nǚ Wū frowns, “I’m not liking this one bit.” On their way back to the school, the ran into the fox Miraculous wielder. “I can create a duplicate of you and have her take him on.”  
  
Kagami shakes her head, “I need the personal satisfaction of shutting him up.”  
  
“He won’t fight fair.” Snap says.  
  
“Neither will I.”  
  
With a sigh, Snap gives Kagami their sword and shield. “Be careful. You know how to contact us.”  
  
Kagami nods before walking into the school. “Now what?” Nǚ Wū asks.  
  
“Now we free the captives while Kagami is kicking that prick’s ass.” The fox nods. They jump to the roof of François Düpont and see Adrien sitting at his throne.  
  
“Nino Lahiffe, you stand before the King of François Düpont guilty of treason.”  
  
“Dude, what?” Two clones force the brunet to his knees.  
  
“Don’t play dumb!” The butterfly mask outline appears over his face. “You’re trying to steal Kagami from me! And that’s the highest act of treason there is! During our class trip to Fontainebleau, _you_ were paired up as her buddy! _You_ made her smile in a way I never could! Tell me how you did it.”  
  
“You’re out of your damn mind!”  
  
Adrien jumps out of his throne grabbing Nino by the chin, forcing his head in Chloé’s direction. “Either you say what I want to hear or lose the ability to speak altogether. Your choice.”  
 **  
**“Agreste!” Kagami opens the double doors of the gymnasium, making her way to the throne. Adrien’s sabre he left at the boulangerie pâtissèrie, is hanging against the makeshift belt on her left side. She has Snap’s sword under the back of her shirt for a makeshift sheath and she’s carrying Snap’s shell shield in her right hand.  
  
The mask outline disappears from around Adrien’s eyes. “Sew his mouth shut.” Adrien orders, making a shooing motion at his clones who lift Nino up and carry him off. “Kagami!” The blond happily approaches the blue-haired teen with his arms out wide. “I’m so glad you’re finally here! What do you say we skip the duel and—”  
  
Kagami lifts the shield then backhands Adrien with it. The entire gymnasium gasps and winces.  
  
Adrien presses his hand against his chin, massaging it. “Guess that’s a no. Surprised you didn’t try breaking my jaw.” When he snaps his fingers, Wayhem and Sabrina rush over to him. Sabrina holds up a sword that materializes in her hands while the same thing happens with Wayhem and a shield. Each weapon is a bright, sparkly gold. “Let’s have ourselves a duel!” Everyone’s bindings bring their bound hands together forcing them to clap.  
  
Adrien walks past Kagami to the center of the gym. With narrowed eyes, she follows. They’re standing across from each other on the basketball hoop circle.  
  
“Rules are simple.” Adrien announces. “The loser is determined by which of us can no longer hold our weapons.” The audience forcibly claps again. “Once the queen is taken off her pedestal—” The butterfly mask outline appears over his eyes. “The school will be rightfully mine once again.” The outline disappears.  
  
Marinette looks at the sword in Kagami’s hand. That’s undoubtedly her... or rather Fēngbào’s zhanmadao (just red) and Ricochet’s shell shield. But if she’s here and Kagami is there... who the hell gave Kagami those weapons?  
  
They both arm themselves. “En garde.” Adrien begins cheerily.  
  
“Prêtz.” Kagami bites out, tightening her grip on the sword.  
  
“Allez~”  
  
Marinette looks around the gymnasium. Adrien and Kagami clash weapons then both jump backward sizing each other up. The entire student body was gathered to the gymnasium by Adrien’s duplicates; however, she has no idea where the faculty are. So far, Marinette noticed “King” Adrien has duplicating powers, and the horrendous ability to create outfits out of the tackiest, brightest gold imaginable. Then there was the inexplicable thing with the gold ropes – though that might be part of the outfit power. She cringed when he snapped his fingers making her outfit. Looking him over, she hasn’t been able to tell where his akuma is. While she’d bet money on the crown, she doubted it would be that obvious. His sword, however, would be another good bet – and probably where the akuma is.  
  
Funny thing is, Kagami has Adrien’s original sword strapped to her belt. He threw it in the ground after Marinette decked him in the face. Those self-defense classes with Nora really paid off. They also help with her fighting as Fēngbào.  
  
When Adrien barged in her room she was making a fake Miraculous choker in case her hand was ever forced. Kagami thought it was a good idea and Marinette was set to make hers next.  
  
Adrien chased her around the room as Marinette threw things at him. After about ten minutes, he began cutting through any and everything in his path, finally managing to pin Marinette against the wall with gold ropes. Longg quickly took her choker off then took it to her pillow in hopes that Kagami would come to the boulangerie pâtissèrie before coming to François Düpont. The only reason the kwami was able to get away with it without being seen was Adrien began _monologuing_.  
  
She managed to get in a few good hits before he created the ugly dress that also restricted her movement; then he was able to pick her up in the fireman carry and jump out the boulangerie pâtissèrie into his army of duplicates who carried them to François Düpont via throne.  
  
Marinette happens to look up in time to see Fēngbào and Nǚ Wū peering down on the roof. Nǚ Wū presses the dizi against their lips.  
  
Meanwhile, Kagami is using her shell shield to defend against Adrien’s assault and just how the hell is she able to carry that with one hand and the sword in the other?  
  
Kagami is on a whole ‘nother level.  
  
Marinette’s eyes widen. What if Papillion is using this whole ordeal to get Kagami akumatized? What if she pulls an akumatization switch like she did with Rose and Juleka and Loveless?  
  
Marinette shuffles on her feet, moving as much as the damn dress allows. Chloé turns in her direction, wincing as she tries to open her mouth and tugs on the suture causing her to bleed more. (It’s hardly surprising the blonde can’t keep her mouth shut, even when it’s stitched up.)  
  
Chloé, with her feet unbound, walks over to her easily. They clink their golden chrome handcuffs together. The handcuffs have no keyhole so Marinette’s not sure how they’re gonna come off.  
  
Marinette tugs on Chloé’s handcuffs but all it does it pull the blonde forward.  
  
Chloé, in turn, tries stomping on Marinette’s handcuffs but all that does is nearly cause the blue-haired teen to topple forward.  
  
Fēngbào drops down in front of them and Chloé actually pops a suture trying to open her mouth. Marinette notices there’s a lot more green in Fēngbào than usual. Well, there’s just green on her in general because to her knowledge Fengbao is merely red and gold. Oh. Whoever this is... is Fēngbào and Ricochet fused. Huh. They’re the same height as her.  
  
Fēngochet uses her tail to slice the middle of the handcuffs (and Marinette has to admit that’s cool as fuck... and something she didn’t realize her tail was capable of). “I’d get rid of that ugly dress but I don’t know if he kept whatever you were wearing underneath it.” Marinette grimaces looking down at her outfit. She turns to Chloé. “Hold still.” She takes a claw and presses it against one of the sutures but it doesn’t budge. “Well, damn.”  
  
“Maybe I can try?” Marinette holds out her fingers toward Chloé’s mouth. Unlike when Adrien snapped his fingers, this time nothing happens.  
  
Chloé tugs at her sutures as she tries to open her mouth again. “Stop.” Ricobào orders and the blonde snaps her mouth shut.  
  
“Fēngbào, I think Papillion is trying to get my best friend akumatized.” Marinette whispers.  
  
“Name’s Snap, and how do you figure?”  
  
“Wha—? ‘Snap?’” They nod. “Uh... alright then.” Marinette shakes her head. “About Kagami. Having some powered-up jackass kidnap one of your best friends then hold the school captive just so you two can have a duel? It’s incredibly frustrating. Kagami may have an astounding amount of patience and an extraordinary scary high level of discipline but even she has to have a breaking point.”  
  
“I’m certain she could’ve taken out those two akumatizations on her own had I not interfered, and she’s determined to take that boy out by herself. She’d make a damn formidable akumatization.”  
  
Over by the bleachers, Nǚ Wū found the golden string that bound the whole school together on the bleachers and cut it. The entire student body collectively breath a sigh of relief as they were freed.  
  
However, each end every student remains seated.  
  
Kagami’s been on the defensive this entire time. If she isn’t parrying Adrien’s attacks on one side she’s deflecting them with her shield on the other.  
  
“You can’t be afraid of attacking, Kagami-kun.” Kagami blocks his strikes with the shield. “Look at your so-called ‘Queen,’ François Düpont! A coward playing on the defensive! You might as well—”  
  
As soon as Adrien lifts his left arm Kagami impales her sword through his shoulder.  
  
The crowd collectively gasps, getting to their feet. Adrien growls dropping his shield but it doesn’t hit the ground, he manages to catch it on his left foot by outstretching his left leg.  
  
The crowd collectively awws and sits back down.  
  
Kagami pulls her sword from Adrien’s shoulder as he lifts his foot flipping the shield in the air. Kagami raises her sword in the air catching his shield but Adrien snatches his sabre from Kagami’s belt.  
  
The swords in their right hands clash but Adrien is a half-second faster than Kagami as he just barely grazes her cheek with the sabre before she can raise her shield. Adrien laughs, “see that? She bleeds! Your so-called queen isn’t invincible!” The crowd murmurs worriedly.

“One cut isn’t gonna stop her. Warriors gets scars all the time!” Marinette shouts, “you got this, Kagami! Take him down!”

Adrien sighs, “my dear, sweet queen. I’d hate to sew your beautiful mouth shut too.”

“Just try it and you’ll be swallowing that sabre!”

“She’s so fierce! Fearless too. It’s why I selected her. I suppose that’s your influence, isn’t it?” Adrien tilts his head to the left, “ah... ‘influence.’ How could I have forgotten? A fierce queen is nothing without her fiercely loyal counsel.”

Kagami’s eyes narrow, “what the hell are you babbling about?”

Adrien smirks, “I’m speaking, of course, of your counsel. Still looking for someone but...” He gestures to his left, “I think I got everyone else.”

Kagami slightly turns her head in the direction of the end of the bleachers where one of Adrien’s clones has an arm on Juleka’s shoulder and his other arm on Mylène’s; their hands are both bound by golden chrome cuffs and their mouths are sewn shut with gold thread. Juleka looks rightfully pissed whereas Mylène has tears running down her face. Kagami turns back to Adrien with murder in her eyes. “You’re gonna regret entering this school, Agreste.”

The blond tsks, “don’t get distracted now, Kagami-kun, we’ve only just begun~”

Nǚ Wū quietly makes their way over to the group, “as entertaining as it would be to see Kagami obliterate him, I hope we have a back-up plan for when he inevitably cheats himself a victory.” They whisper.

“I’m guessing beating the shit out of him doesn’t count as a plan?” Nǚ Wū makes a seesawing motion with their right hand.

“If it doesn’t—” Marinette’s eyes narrow, “it should be.”

Chloé’s eyes widen, then she pulls her cellphone out of her pocket then frantically starts texting. Marinette spares the blonde a glance before turning her attention to Adrien happily swinging his sabre as it keeps hitting Kagami’s shield. The blonde tugs on Snap’s shoulder then shows them her phone screen.

Snap blinks, “ooh.” They look at Chloé, “that’ll definitely qualify as a back-up plan. Do it.” The blonde nods, fingers rapidly typing on her phone again. “Nǚ Wū, I need a favor from you.” Snap puts an arm around them, “you remember your debut, right? When you saved that girl from Livestream?” They whisper and Nǚ Wū nods, “I need an illusion of her. If Agreste is going after all of Kagami’s friends he’ll definitely be sending out some clones in her direction.”

“Where is she? If you don’t mind my asking?”

“Safe. I left her at Sabine & Tom Boulangerie Pâtissèrie. Since that’s the last place Adrien attacked, I doubt he’d be going back there.” Nǚ Wū nods in understanding.

Alya! Of course! Marinette would facepalm if it wouldn’t draw attention to her. Who else could it be but Alya? Marinette’s main concern is how the hell she’s able to hear them when they’re whispering. She can hear them as if they were speaking in normal volume right beside her. Do dragons have super-hearing? She’ll have to ask Longg. (She’ll also have to ask how did Longg make Alya grow...?)

“How’s it going, Chloé?” The blonde gives Snap thumbs up. “Time to sink a model’s careership.” Snap frowns, “okay... that was a bad one but you get what I’m saying.”

“Time to let the music play.” Nǚ Wū puts the flute to their lips and blows out a loud, off-key tune.  
  
The butterfly mask outline appears over Adrien’s face as he rotates his bleeding left shoulder. How he’s holding a sword in his hand while part of his shoulder is missing is a mystery. Must be the akuma magic, “there’s hardly any honor in having your little furry buddies interfere.”

“Dragons don’t have fur!” Marinette and Snap yell simultaneously then stare at each other.  
  
“Get yourself a reality check, Agreste. We’re far past the point of honor.”  
  
“M-My liege! I just saw Césaire run by.” Wayhem exclaims. Adrien snaps his fingers then some of his clones run off in the direction Wayhem pointed.  
  
“ _Seriously, Adrikins? You are being utterly ridiculous right now!_ ”  
  
“W-What? I—How?!” Eyes widening, Adrien turns around facing the blonde who still has her mouth sewn shut but she waves with her unbound left hand holding up her phone in her right hand.  
  
“ _You should see the look on your face!_ ” The phone laughs.

“A rec—” As he turns back around, Kagami roundhouse kicks him in the face then brings her shield down on his left shoulder. The blonde cries out in pain, falling to his knees, dropping his weapons.  
  
Once the swords loudly clatter onto the floor, the whole school stares at the weapons for several seconds before getting up and cheering loudly.  
  
Kagami points Snap’s sword at Adrien’s head, “where’s the akuma, Agreste? I won’t ask twice.”  
  
“What are you gonna—” He hisses as she slashes the sword across his forehead.  
  
“You have a lot of skin unmarred left.”  
  
“I already said I’d relinquish my akuma if I lost!”  
  
“Where the hell is it then?” Snap yells.  
  
The blond sighs glaring at Snap. “In the sabre.”  
  
“Keep your sword ready in case he’s lying.” Snap says to Kagami who nods. They walk past Adrien and step on the sabre beside him. An akuma flies out of the broken sword. Snap makes a bubble, surrounding the akuma then they press their pointer finger against the bubble sending a jolt of electricity through it charring the akuma.  
  
Adrien screams in agony as a multicolored light erupts from his body, melting the gold clothes off his body leaving him in a black shirt and a pair of grey jeans – which was the outfit he was wearing yesterday. Soon after, the gold begins melting from everyone else’s bodies. Marinette breathes a huge sigh of relief once the dress melts. (She doesn’t even mind that she’s still wearing her pyjamas. At least they’re the cute two different pink plaid ones that fit perfectly and not the white ones with the bunnies that were two sizes too small due to her growth spurt but still so damn soft to the touch she couldn’t toss them.)  
  
The first thing Chloé does after the sutures melt from her mouth is run at Adrien. Before he can move, she kicks him in the stomach and screams. “How could you do this to me!? We are done, Agreste!”  
  
Holding his bleeding left shoulder, he looks up at the blonde with unshed tears in her eyes. “C-Chloé—” His eyes widen, “—oh no! Oh no, no, no! I—I shouldn’t’ve—! I wasn’t—”  
  
“Save it!” She huffs then walks over to Snap. “I’m sorry about everything, Fēng—uh... ‘Snap.’” She bows her head. “I was only thinking about myself.” She turns to Adrien with the coldest look they’ve ever seen in her eyes. Adrien flinches then looks away with a wince. “I can’t see myself becoming like that. I won’t allow it.” She turns back to Snap. “I don’t deserve forgiveness, not until I’ve earned it. I just wanted you to know how sorry I am.” She turns to Mylène, who hesitantly approaches the group with Juleka. “I’m sorry about antagonizing you and your papa, Mim—uh...”  
  
“Mylène.” She replies.  
  
“Right. I’m sorry Mylène.”  
  
“I forgive you.”  
  
“Chloé!” Sabrina runs over to the blonde crying, “I’m so sorry, Chloé. He—I can’t believe he’d... he’d...” She sniffles, wiping her eyes. “Are you okay?”  
  
“I need some moisturizer for my lips.” She jokes weakly. The sutures disappeared but the tiny holes they sewed through are still around the blonde’s mouth.  
  
Snap puts an arm on Chloé’s shoulder, “you did good, Chloé.” Eyes widening, the blonde blushes. “And apology accepted. But don’t think I’m gonna ease up on you. I still won’t save you if you cause an akuma.” The blonde nods furiously.  
  
Kagami holds out Snap’s sword and shield, “I believe these belong to you.”  
  
“If I’m not careful, you’re gonna put me out of job.” With a laugh, Snap secures their weapons. “Until next time, but not too soon yeah?” Nǚ Wū nods in agreement as the two of them sprint off as the crowd cheers.  
  
👑  
  
After magically assaulting the entire student body, Adrien was suspended for three weeks. The students were also given the rest of the week off to recuperate from their “trauma.” Damocles air-quoting that word didn’t sit well with parents who banded together and blazed into the school like hellfire the next day. There was a campaign to have Adrien Agreste expelled but his parents (Gabriel Agreste actually made a physical appearance at the school) pushed the whole no one is in complete control of themselves while akumatized angle. And Damocles – needing the funding and lacking a backbone – relented. (She heard Marinette’s family is in the process of pressing charges against Adrien and his family, and she really hopes her sources are correct this time around.)  
  
“And this is your class.” Sabrina chirps. The prince – an actual honest-to-goodness prince – nods as he looks around the classroom. “As one of the class’ reps you’ll be sitting next to me.” Ali hooks his arm through Sabrina’s and they enter the classroom.  
  
The students inside quiet as they watch the duo walk to the front desk on the right and take a seat.  
  
Lila props her left hand against her face looking at the duo. The prince is cute and from all the knowledge she researched on him, they were very compatible. The brunette can’t wait to introduce herself to him!  
  
Chloé comes in the classroom. No sunglasses on her head and her hair loose from its ponytail for once. She’s wearing a bright yellow jacket and a black dress with tiny yellow ribbons on the bottom and black flats. (Lila doesn’t think she’s ever seen Chloé without heels.) The blonde also has black and red highlights in her hair. Lila raises an eyebrow as Chloé joins her at the desk. “Why are you dressed in all black?”  
  
“I’m mourning the loss of my oldest friendship.” She takes a black handkerchief out of her black purse and dabs her teary eyes. (Lila noticed the blonde has on black eyeshadow.) “But Audrey wouldn’t let me leave the hotel without ‘a pop of color.’” She shrugs off her jacket and puts her purse on top of it.  
  
“So you two are just done? No chance of being friends ever again?”  
  
“Nope. I told my parents but they said I was ‘being dramatic.’” Chloé huffs, “whatever. Not like I need their approval of who I am and am not still friends with.”  
  
“If you don’t mind my asking, you seemed pretty pissed about getting handcuffed and... sewn.” Lila grimaces. It’s been a week but the holes were still visible around Chloé’s mouth if you looked closely. The same is probably true for Mylène and Juleka who also had their mouths sewn. And there was the red skin around her wrists from the gold chrome bindings, everyone had. (From what Lila’s seen, Chloé’s, Marinette’s, Juleka’s, and Mylène’s were the worst.) The magic that melted the gold hadn’t fixed everything. Hadn’t really fixed anything come to think of it. Only a handful of students didn’t have red wrists; and thankfully Lila happened to be one of them. She’s never been happier to be late to school than she was last Monday. “Rightfully so, I must add.”  
  
“I was kidnapped when I was six.” Lila gapes at her. “Then again when I was eight. Bound, gagged, the whole shebang. Still get nightmares about it from time to time. Adrien knew all this. To... To just carelessly do that to me? Me!? The person who’s stood by him through all his bullshit? The person who was even willing to give him one last chance to get his shit together with all the shit he did to Tsurugi? I’m through giving a fuck about him. He can burn in hell.”  
  
“Have you seen a therapist?”  
  
Chloé laughs humorously. “I’ve seen every therapist. The other day...” The blonde shudders, “whatever. Doesn’t matter. It’s dealt with.” She gasps, “the prince—I-I mean Ali is already here!?” She shakes her head, fanning out her hair. “I need to go introduce myself. I was running late this morning so I didn’t get to see him arrive.” Chloé gets up then heads to Sabrina and Ali’s desk.  
  
More students begin filing into the classroom; gasping when they see Ali at the desk with Sabrina.  
  
Mme. Mendeleiev enters the classroom with her trusty thermos at hand, “Mlle. Bourgeois, Mlle. Raincomprix. I need you both.” Chloé and Sabrina exchange a confused glance before excusing themselves. As the teacher sits at her desk, she hands a piece of paper to Chloé who hands the paper to Sabrina. “The school dance is coming up in two weeks, just in time for Valentine’s Day. As class rep...s, it’s your job to make sure the class is properly informed of the dance’s details when you meet with the other class representatives after school today.”  
  
“Leave it to us, Mme. Mendeleiev. This is exactly the type of distraction I need. I’ll make sure this is the best dance in François Düpont history!”  
  
The teacher looks at her oddly before nodding. “...Okay then. Class is going to start soon.”  
  
“We’re gonna need all hands on deck for this one.” Chloé scrolls through her phone and Sabrina notices the contact “Adrikins 🌟” is missing. Instead, “Audrey👑” is at the top of the contact list. Hell, Chloé’s wallpaper and lock screen is no longer the picture of the three of them trying to squeeze into the camera. Instead, it’s a picture of Chloé taking a selfie in the mirror wearing a yellow pantsuit. Chloé catches her staring at the phone and frowns, “the two of us need to take a picture together. There aren’t any pictures of just the two of us together. I searched through fourteen years of photos.” Sabrina whistles. “After the meeting or whatever, we’ll get our hair and nails done then take a good picture.”  
  
“We could always just take a picture together at the dance?” Sabrina suggests.  
  
“We’re gonna be taking lots of pictures together. To make up for all the ones I had to erase.”  
  
👑  
  
At lunch, the majority of the class remained in the cafeteria to crowd Ali. The prince scanned the class roster once the students were finished introducing themselves to him. “Marinette Dupain-Cheng? She is in this class? I would love to meet her in person. My sister commissioned her for an outfit.”  
  
Chloé suppresses the scoff threatening to bubble up, “Dup—uh... Marinette doesn’t eat lunch in the cafeteria she and her entourage go to—” She gestures to Sabrina to continue.  
  
“—Her family’s boulangerie pâtissèrie. It’s like two blocks from here. We can take you there after school if you’d like?”  
  
“I would like that very much.” Chloé’s right eye twitches as she nods.  
  
Aurore raises an eyebrow as Wayhem shuffles the food around on his plate. “What’s your problem?”  
  
“I’m so... disappointed in Adrien. He full-on snapped last Monday.”  
  
“At least he gave us a week off of school...” Lila, Aurore, and Wayhem all glare at Félix who shrugs.  
  
Aurore frowns, “I think they should move to expel him again. I can’t believe I wanted to make out with him.” She shudders in disgust. “Oh well. I can always make out with Félix.”  
  
“I don’t mind that at all.” Félix says with a smile. Rolling her eyes, Aurore pushes his face away.  
  
Wayhem sighs heavily again, “you look almost heartbroken.” Blushing, Wayhem turns to her. Aurore gasps, “ **no**! _You’re in love with Adrien_?”  
  
“Was in love. Seeing him like that on Monday crushed my crush.”  
  
“I wouldn’t mind making out with you either.” Aurore slaps a hand over Félix’s mouth.  
  
“You aren’t the only one, Wayhem. On Friday all the girls from his fanclub got together and made a bonfire with all his posters and stuff. I heard they even took down his billboard ad near the school.”  
  
“Once word about this leaves the school, it could end his career.”  
  
“I’m surprised it hasn’t already.” Lila says, off-handedly. “We shouldn’t allow a sexual harasser to continue a career where he gets to be beside beautiful women.”  
  
Wayhem gasps, “w-what?! H-He isn’t—”  
  
“Oh, yes he is. Everything he admitted to? The shit he did akumatized? Textbook sexual harassment.”  
  
“But no one is gonna press charges against an akuma.” Aurore says.  
  
“I don’t see why not. And whenever Fēngbào and her team discover Papillion’s identity, they can press charges against her too.”  
  
“You feel really strongly about this, huh?” Wayhem asks.  
  
“Not only was my mother fired from her old job for reporting her superior for sexual harassment, they kept the asshole at the company. Claiming ‘his word against hers.’ Entitled assholes like that make my skin crawl. Plus, let’s not forget the fact that Adrien had a one-person pity party and got akumatized for it. Twice.”  
  
“He did throw a school-wide tantrum and got us all turned into gooey blobs.” Aurore glares down at her red wrists, “then this of all things. My skin started to peel.”  
  
Lila lowers Aurore’s hand from Félix’s mouth, “how did you avoid getting tied up and brought to the gym?”  
  
“How did you?”  
  
“I was late to school and wrapped a gold cloth I found in the art room around my wrists once I overheard the clones.”  
  
“I pretended I agreed with Adrien and he didn’t bind my wrists. He still had his clones force me to the bleachers though. I’m just a tad bit insulted he chose to select Chloé Bourgeois as his adviser instead of me. I mean, we’re family! I’ve known him for longer than she has.”  
  
“Dude... what? It wasn’t fun being at his beck and call.” Wayhem argues. “He made me file his nails!”  
  
“I feel for Chloé. Which was something I never thought I’d say. I don’t know how those holes are gonna go away. And she lost her oldest friend.” Aurore shakes her head with a sigh.  
  
“This is the same girl who purposely caused an akumatization to get a close look at a superhero. Not to mention her numerous threats. Being the victim once after being an instigator for so long doesn’t automatically erase all the bad things she’s done.”  
  
“I’m not saying she’s an angel. Far from it. What I am saying is, everything Chloé has done in her entire life doesn’t come close to the level of horrible as the stuff Adrien did just last month. And it’s not open for debate.” Aurore pauses, “hold up. I know you and Adrien are family and are close but you’re not seriously defending him, are you?”  
  
Lila and Wayhem glance at Félix. “Of course not. There’s nothing to defend. He behaved like a neanderthal and received an appropriate punishment. All I’m saying... is neither my cousin nor Chloé are good people.”  
  
“You’re not a good person either, so I guess you’d know.” Lila says.  
  
👑  
  
Alya yawns as she walks down the hall. “Does it hurt?” She hears Kagami ask. The orange-haired teen stops walking seeing Kagami leaning against the wall with Nino sitting on the staircase rail in front of her.  
  
“Nah. Feels weird though. Like when I put chapstick on? Or brush my teeth? I feel the little indents around my mouth. I kinda always wanted to get one of those under my lip piercings but I might hold off on that for now.”  
  
“I’m sorry, Nino. Had I known—”  
  
“Dude, don’t even sweat it. None of us knew just how unhinged the guy was. I mean, to sew his alleged best friend’s mouth shut because she didn’t agree with him?” Nino whistles. “I know people said being akumatized really screwed with their head but you gotta wonder just how much of it was really him and how much was Papillion.” Kagami nods frowning.  
  
“Aly— _ack_!” Alya grabs the approaching Marinette’s arm, looping it around her own strongarming the taller girl into the classroom without Nino or Kagami seeing them. “What’s going on?”  
  
“I didn’t want to interrupt...” She looks back in the doorway, “I think Mimi’s got a crush.” She whispers.  
  
“What?” They begin walking up the stairs to their seats, “you think so?”  
  
Alya nods, “definitely. She looked so relaxed around him. Ooh. First crushes are so precious.”  
  
“How do you know it’s her first crush?”  
  
“I don’t.”  
  
“Wait... aren’t people generally not relaxed around someone they have a crush on?”  
  
“I don’t know. Have you ever had a crush before?”  
  
“W-Wha—? M-Me? N-No. Not yet. You?” Alya shakes her head. “What do you think it feels like? Not all cheesy like the movies right?”  
  
“Nah. Nora said it felt like she wanted to puke all the time.” Alya shrugs, “I suppose we could always ask Kagami.”  
  
“What if she, you know, doesn’t wanna share?”  
  
“Then that’s fine. We’d have to wait until one of us feels it to find out.” Alya sighs endearingly, “we gotta hook them up!”  
  
“Wait a second—”  
  
“C’mon Marinette, they’d be so cute together!”  
  
“Be that as it may, what if he doesn’t feel the same way?”  
  
Alya frowns, “we can’t force him into developing feelings for Kagami because that would be sleazy, and we’re better than that.” She sighs, “we could casually mention how much of a catch she is? Or... hell I don’t know, look for someone else—”  
  
Chloé loudly clears her throat then the two of them turn to the left and look at her. “I couldn’t help but overhear your poor attempt at whispering.”  
  
“What’s it to you?”  
  
“I’m attempting to be a better person because if last week taught me anything it’s that you really don’t know anyone as well as you think you do. Besides, Fen—dammit Snap was proud of me. I want her—well I want Fēngbào—to keep feeling like that. I want to be a model citizen that helps out our heroes.” Alya and Marinette share a dubious look. “I took the first step and that was cutting out toxic people from my life.”  
  
“Fine. Let’s say you are going on the straight and narrow—”  
  
“I’m not st—”  
  
“Nope. Wasn’t setting you up for that.” Chloé pouts. “If you wanna be a better person you should start by apologizing to all the people you treated like shit.” Alya gestures to Marinette.  
  
Chloé rolls her eyes, “fine. I was gonna take baby steps but whatever. We’ll do it your way.” The blonde clears her throat. “I... a-a-apologize—” She grits out, “for throwing a tantrum on your first day. And whatever else I might’ve done that I don’t remember.” Alya looks at Marinette who shrugs. “And if I did anything to you – personally – Orange-Hair, I apologize for that too.” Chloé hums, “wow, this is easy.”  
  
“You know you gotta mean your apologies, right? You can’t just march up to Fēngbào and tell her you’re apologizing to people if you keep on your bullshit.”  
  
“I know that! I never had anyone tell me they were proud of anything I’ve done before. Why are you two looking at me like that?”  
  
“Nothing!” Marinette squeaks out.  
  
“I’m not looking!” Alya says at the same time and they turn away.  
  
“Oh! I nearly forgot the reason I interrupted you.” They (hesitantly) turn back to Chloé. “I’m in love so I know how it feels. It’s like eating spicy food. At first bite it makes your eyes water but you still wanna keep diving in and going back for more.”  
  
Alya scratches her head and Marinette frowns. “Interesting analogy.” The latter says. “Do you eat spicy food?” She whispers.  
  
“All the time.” Alya whispers back, “but I didn’t think the white girl would.” Marinette replies with a nod and a shrug.

When Kagami walks in the classroom with Nino, Chloé stands. “Everyone shut up! I have an announcement!” Everyone shuts up and stares up at the blonde in confusion. “I, Chlolétte Aurélie Bourgeois, am working on becoming a better person.” Kim spits out his water. “I know what you’re thinking. Snap gave her a pat on the shoulder and suddenly she’s trying to change? That’s not... entirely it. Although pats from Fēngbào would make me happy. Of course kisses would make me even happier—” She clears her throat, “anyway, Adrien never acted like some hyperpossessive misogynist pig in my presence but I was—” Chloé sighs, “—I was a bit possessive of Adrien. He was like a shiny plaything I didn’t want to share. I don’t know if my selfishness contributed to him being a dick but I don’t want to be like that anymore. I don’t want to be the one known for having the insane, akuma friends or be the person responsible for creating them. I spent my life miserable and wanting everyone around me to be even more miserable. I’m not justifying my past behavior; simply put, I was a bitch. We all know that. I am apologizing to you all for every wrong thing I’ve ever done. And please don’t ask me to specify, yes that was directed at _you_ , Kubdel—” Alix does a double take, “we’ll be here all day and I have plans after school. Also, also. School dance is coming up Sabrina and I will give you the details tomorrow after we find out what those details are... today. I’m done.” She sits back down.  
  
“Where are the hidden cameras, Bourgeois? You suddenly apologizing for everything you’ve ever done wrong over your whole life – which is a lot of shit, just so you know – while claiming you’re trying to ‘change?’ It’s bullshit and if it isn’t I might just die of shock.” Alix says.  
  
“Careful what you wish for, Kubdel. I am trying to change and I don’t give a shit if you believe me or not.” Sabrina slips into the seat next to Chloé then whispers into her ear. “What?” She hisses. Sabrina shrugs. Chloé rolls her eyes. “Right. Since we had to cancel Sabrina’s girls only birthday party sleepover due to... reasons, we’re gonna do it this weekend.”  
  
Alix smirks, “you’re not gonna try and get Fēngbào to make an appearance at the hotel again, are you?”  
  
“You know something, Kubdel—”  
  
The teacher walks into the classroom. “Alright. What’s with the yelling? Settle down.”  
  
👑  
  
“How was school, Félix?” With the magic not fixing any of the students injuries, Adrien’s left shoulder is heavily bandaged and his left arm is in a sling to keep his shoulder from tearing further. He also has a bandage on his forehead from where Kagami cut him. (Félix saw Kagami have a small bandage on her cheek.)  
  
“School was school.” Adrien narrows his eyes as Félix walks past him. He wasn’t sold on living here from the get-go but now he has Adrien following after him with every move he makes. “I spoke with maman, I’m going to be staying at Le Grand Paris.”  
  
“What?” Adrien grips his cousin’s collar with his good hand, “you’re leaving?”  
  
“I suggest you release me.”  
  
“Or what? You’re gonna kick me when I’m already down?”  
  
“Everything you’ve done, you’ve done to yourself.” Félix removes Adrien’s hand then walks up the stairs to his bedroom.  
  
“You told him to continue pursuing that girl!? Are you out of your mind?” Amélie hisses. “Père gave us horrendous advice to continue pursuing our crushes until they gave in!”  
  
“Speak for yourself. It got me Gabriel.” Amélie massages her forehead. “Don’t worry. He’s not gonna be so subtle this time around.”  
  
Amélie grabs her twin by the shoulders, “stop this Émilie, this insanity is gonna get you and your son arrested or worse!”  
  
“You always were weak-willed. It’s why mère and père preferred me.” Amélie gapes at her sister as she takes Amelie’s hands off her shoulders and walks past. “Adrien deserves the world and come hell or high water, he’s going to get it!”

Amélie’s eyes narrow at the bee-shaped hairclip atop her sister’s bun.  
  
Nathalie adjusts her glasses pushing herself off the wall and walking in the opposite direction.  
  
👑  
  
Alya is braiding a strand of her hair and a strand of Marinette’s hair combined with a strand of Kagami’s in a single plait. “The ultimate sign of a best friendship? Having each other’s hair.”  
  
“Alya, that sounds really creepy.” Marinette calls from the other side of the room.  
  
“Get over here and see the finished product. I mean... you can’t really tell because your hair is just like a shade or two lighter but you can see my hair braided in.”  
  
Marinette shuffles over to them putting a finger to her chin. “Weird, but I like it.” Then she shuffles back over to the other side of her room.  
  
“What are you even doing? I gotta braid your hair next.”  
  
“In a minute. I’m looking for something. Got it!” Marinette cheers rushing over and setting down a shoebox on the bed beside Kagami. “They’re finally done!” Alya and Kagami look into the box beside them.  
  
“Friendship bracelets.” They whisper.  
  
Marinette nods. Kagami gingerly takes out her friendship bracelet. There’s a sword, a shield, a book, a pair of headphones, a macaron, a pinwheel, and an omamori charm on a red string.  
  
Alya lets go of Kagami’s hair to pick up her friendship bracelet. The string is orange and on it are a camera, a pair of glasses, a pair of boxing gloves, a spider, an elephant, a ribbon, and a scone charm.  
  
Marinette’s friendship bracelet is on a pink string. The charms are a seashell, a spool of thread, a cornicello, a paper lantern, a game controller, a gingerbread cookie, and a leather jacket.  
  
All of their charms are the same color as the string they’re on.  
  
“Marinette, these are adorable!” Alya puts her bracelet on, “I’m wearing this forever.”  
  
“As am I.” Kagami puts her bracelet on. “If only we had any skills to show our appreciation and affection for you.”  
  
Blushing, Marinette waves her hands in front of her. “Oh. No... no, no, no. Please don’t. You don’t have to do that.”  
  
Alya hums, “well, now we have to.” Kagami nods in agreement. “Pictures!” Alya gasps. “If there’s one thing I can do it’s take a damn good picture. We’re gonna dress up in some MDC originals and go all out taking the best freaking picture we can! We can put it as our phone’s wallpaper.”  
  
“That’s a great idea!” Marinette agrees. “We can put a bunch of pictures and stuff together.”  
  
Kagami sighs, “I’m afraid I have nothing to contribute. I’m not as... creative as you two are.”  
  
Alya hugs her from behind, “you’re plenty creative. You’ll think of something and even if you don’t we won’t love you any less.”  
  
“Ooh, speaking of love...” Marinette timidly brings her pointer fingers together, “d-do you have a crush on... anyone?”  
  
“A crush?” Kagami furrows her eyebrows, “not that I’m aware of?”  
  
“What about Nino?” Marinette gives Alya a look and the orange-haired teen facepalms, “sorry! Forgot we were supposed to ease into it.”  
  
“I see. The purpose of this hair-braiding, friendship bracelet giving lunch was deception.”  
  
“No!” Alya and Marinette exclaim frantically waving their warms in front of them. Though Alya has to move avoid hitting Kagami. “We would never deceive you. We’re just trying to help.”  
  
Kagami hums, “truly?” Marinette and Alya nod. “ _I_ have a crush on Nino?” They nod again, “what made you draw that conclusion?”  
  
“Your body language.” Alya moves from behind Kagami to in front of her. “He’s very likable. You seem almost as comfortable around him as you are around us.”  
  
“And it came out of nowhere!” Marinette adds, “I mean have you two even spoken to each other before the class trip?”  
  
Kagami ponders this for a second. She generally remained in the orbit of Alya upon meeting her, then when she was introduced to Marinette her peripheral expanded slightly to include the blue-haired, blue-grey eyed teen. It was only recently her orbit expanded some more to include Mylène and Juleka. She doesn’t know when Nino’s presence snuck up on her. Perhaps it was during the class trip? Kagami doesn’t even know how she and Nino even ended up getting paired together but he was clearly nervous in her presence and cracked a joke to no doubt calm himself. Not only did it work but it made Kagami laugh too.  
  
After the akuma attack, they were huddled together listening to Nino’s music through his headphones on the partybus after neither was no longer interested in playing Ultimate Mecha Strike.  
  
He had a comforting presence that rivaled Marinette’s.  
  
“I don’t know if it is a ‘crush’ or not, but I do find comfort in his presence.” Alya and Marinette gape at each other before they both start squealing, jumping up and down holding onto each other’s arms.  
  
👑  
  
“Chloé, we have to talk.”  
  
The blonde pauses then turns to Audrey, “what did you say?”  
  
“I said we need to talk.”  
  
“I-I thought you called...” Her eyebrows furrow then she shakes her head, “doesn’t matter. What’s there to talk about?”  
  
“It’s about Agreste Jr..” Audrey sighs heavily. “I-I hadn’t realized how... warped – we’ll say – he became. Why didn’t you tell me that asshole sewed your mouth shut?”  
  
“You told papa I’d get over it.”  
  
“The handcuffs, fine. Not that big a deal. There are bangles to conceal those bruises but there’s nothing that can conceal or provide comfort to...that. There isn’t even any justification for it! He’s no better than those horrible kidnappers for treating you the way he did! You had nightmares for weeks after you were gagged! I’m cutting off working with Gabriel and Émilie.” Chloé blinks at her. “Your well-being is more important than a paycheck. The Agrestes can burn in hell. We don’t need them. Now... how shall we ruin their lives?”  
  
“I’ll have to get back to you on that. Confer with Sabrina.”  
  
“Just... come here.” The teen hesitantly walks over to her mother who gently grabs her face tilting it upward. “I shouldn’t be impressed by the stitchwork, huh?”  
  
“Probably not.”  
  
“I swear, I’ll make them pay for this.” Chloé looks her mother in the eyes, noting the almost purple reflecting off them. She lets go, “you don’t want to be late for school. Kisses. See you at lunch.”  
  
“Yeah. See you at lunch.” Audrey watches Chloé leave the suite.  
  
Audrey puts her hands on her hips, “I need to utterly destroy Adrien Agreste for thinking he could get away with tormenting my daughter. And to think... I was gonna use him again. I’ll make sure to torment him instead. Nooroo, bring me the other Miraculous. It’s about time my daughter got an accessory upgrade.”  
  
👑  
  
Chloé and Sabrina told the class everything there was to know about the dance next week. The apparent “theme” was sequins and Chloé argued that wasn’t much of a theme at all but she was overruled. Sequins and glitter – one hell of a combination. (It made Chloé nauseous.)  
  
“I love glitter.” Rose sing-songs. With Chloé’s vow to become a better person – later sworn on her love for Fēngbào – she offered to pay the whole class’ share of dues for the dance. (They say her father had a miniature heart attack when he received the bill. Not the price – it was hardly half of a normal shopping trip between Audrey and Chloé, he was surprised what the bill was for.) Half the class didn’t believe her word, but Kim pointed out if she doesn't follow through she’ll just be making an ass of herself and since they all know Chloé did that twice over the course of the month; she wouldn’t be eager to do it a third time.  
  
The blonde even had her personal tailors come in to measure the entire class for their outfits.  
  
“All of this means nothing.” Alix mutters. “She can’t buy our forgiveness.”  
  
“If it means she keeps paying for shit, she can keep on trying.” Alix rolls her eyes at Kim.  
  
“I believe Chloé is trying to change for the better. I don’t know her but I imagine having your best friend betray you in such a public, brutal manner is quite the eye opener.” Max says adjusting his glasses.  
  
Alix glares up at Kim, “you publicly betray me, Lê Chiên, and I will end you.” The brunet holds up his hands defensively.  
  
“I think she’s overcompensating.” Aurore mutters, “but Chloé only has two speeds. Fast and hypersonic. This Adrien thing was a punch in the face without a boxing glove but throwing all her money away won’t fix things.”  
  
“Speak for yourself. I’m gonna look damn good in my tux.” Aurore rolls her eyes. “You know what I’m thinking, Alix? We get matching tuxes.”  
  
“Ooh... that _is_ a good idea.” Alix shakes her head, “no. _No_. If we’re using Chloé’s guilt money what does that make us?”  
  
“Well dressed in our custom suits.”  
  
Alya leans on Marinette as they watch Kagami get measured. “It’ll be a cinch~” She whispers, “we’ll just go up to him and ask.”  
  
“We can’t ask him out for Kagami, Alya.”  
  
Alya groans, “you’re no fun. If she asks him out we won’t get to intimidate him. C’mon, Marinette, envision it with me.”  
  
“You’re on your own.”  
  
Alya sighs, “fine. Anyway, Nora’s car can easily seat five people. Who wouldn’t wanna ride the Anansi-car? Not exactly the best date ride with my sister being so damn noisy but—”  
  
“Alya, if you’re so... enthralled by the idea of having a date, why don’t you focus on asking someone to the dance yourself?”  
  
“First off... enthralled? You just threw that big word out of nowhere and second: I will find myself a date. Me and my date’ll...” Alya frowns looking around, “ah shit. There’s no one I wanna have my first date with in this class—” She glances at Marinette, “—unless—”  
  
Marinette blinks at her, “what?”  
  
“Wanna be my official date to the dance?”  
  
“W-What?!” The other students on line turn to the blushing blue-haired girl.  
  
“I’m asking you to be my date.” Alya repeats once the other students have lost interest.  
  
“O-Oh and you’re not just asking because I’m right here?”  
  
“Girl, please. I’d be honored to date you, no matter where you were standing. You just being next to me is a bonus. Besides, we gel real well.”  
  
The blue-haired teen rubs the back of her neck. “Yeah we do but that doesn’t mean—”  
  
“I’m not asking you to be my girlfriend—” She pauses, “my romantic girlfriend, I’m just asking you on a semi-romantic date.”  
  
Marinette giggles, “‘semi-romantic?’”  
  
“Anansi-car.” Alya says.  
  
“What the hell, I’ll be your date. Anansi car and all. I can’t think of anyone else I’d want to have my first date with.”  
  
Alya pumps her fist in the air. “We need to coordinate our outfits.”  
  
Chloé is sitting on the bleachers with Sabrina beside her. “I’m thinking we invite Jagged Stone for live entertainment, but don’t put my name anywhere near the invite because he won’t show.”  
  
“He may not show at all knowing you attend the school.”  
  
“If he doesn’t, it’s his loss. I’ll get Kitty Section as a backup.” Sabrina nods. “We need to be the best dressed, Sabrina, and with Audrey no longer collaborating with those snakes we’re gonna need to find a great fashion designer.”  
  
“Should I start looking?”  
  
“We’ll look together.” Chloé puts a hand on Sabrina’s startling the shorter teen, “I haven’t been the best of friends to you, so I apologize for that.”  
  
“Chloé, you’ve been a great friend to me.”  
  
“Don’t lie to me Sabrina, I’ve been horrible. I can’t believe it took a colossal fuck-up from He Who Shall Not Be Named and a hot dragon superhero to make me realize I’ve been a terrible person my whole life!”  
  
“Who knew, right? It’s not entirely your fault. Your parents are horrible people, your parents’ friends are horrible people, hell my parent is a horrible person, you’ve been groomed to be horrible too. We both have been. I’ll become a better person too.”  
  
Lila groans loudly before plopping down next to Chloé, “can you believe this crap?! Half the class is asking Marinette to make their outfits and not even asking for a price!” The brunette puts her hands on her head.  
  
Chloé looks over at the crowd surrounding the clearly uncomfortable tall blue-haired girl. “Nah-uh, come on, I’m putting a stop to this.” Sabrina and Lila exchange a glance as the blonde marches down the bleachers and approaches the crowd. “What the hell is going on here?”  
  
“We just saw the news! Clara Nightingale was being interviewed wearing a dress Marinette commissioned for her! She said she’d perform at our dance as a personal favor to Marinette!” Rose squeals and the surrounding students murmur excitedly, “we were hoping she could make us dresses too!”  
  
“You know Clara Nightingale _paid_ for her dress, right? And probably didn’t commission her practically overnight. What are you all expecting her to do in a little over one week? Make over twenty outfits for free? If you’re not willing to pay, and I mean pay extra since this is a rush job, I suggest you back away slowly.” The whole class gapes at the blonde, “I don’t recall stuttering.”  
  
“Why can’t you pay for our stuff?” Alix suggests. “You’re the one flashing your money around.”  
  
“I’m not gonna overwork the poor girl to the ground for you ungrateful cretins. It’s her dance too! And she won’t have much fun if she drops from exhaustion because she was overworked!” The class gapes at the blonde for the second time in the span of a minute, “shoo!” She makes a shooing motion, “get away from her. Order your outfits from a catalogue or something. That’s better than the lot of you deserve.” She keeps shooing them until they leave. With a sigh, Chloé turns to Marinette. “I trust everything is fine, now?” The blue-haired teen nods, “good.” Then the blonde heads back toward the bleachers.  
  
Kagami makes her way over to Marinette and Alya, “is everything alright? I saw the crowd surrounding you, then Chloé come over.”  
  
“It’s all good. The class was freaking out over the dress Nette made Clara Nightingale and were hoping for a freebie. Before I could tell them off, Chloé beat me to the punch.” Alya rubs the back of her neck, “I’m getting whiplash from watching that girl flutter about.”  
  
Marinette squares her shoulders then heads to the bleachers, Alya and Kagami share a brief glance before following behind her. “What time is the sleepover Friday?”  
  
Sabrina’s eyes brighten, “1-19:30.”  
  
“I’ll—”  
  
“ _We’ll_ —” Alya interjects putting a hand on Marinette’s shoulder, “be there. But the second you get up to your old bitchy tricks—”  
  
Chloé holds up a hand, “I never said I’d stop being _bitchy_ , I just said I’m going to be a better person. I’m a bitch and I own that. I’m just gonna use that bitchiness as a force of good.”  
  
Kagami hums, “I can respect that.” Chloé smiles at her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: translations via a website I looked greetings up on:  
> Xīn xiǎng shì chéng : may all your wishes come true  
> Xīn nián kuài lè! : have a happy new year  
> xiào kǒu cháng kāi : may you smile more often  
> shēng yì xīng lóng : may your business flourish  
> xiè xiè nǐ huān yíng wǒ dào nǐ jiā lái : thank you for welcoming me into your home


End file.
